F 
1215 


V;656y 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


A  Glimpse  of  Old  Mexico 


BEING    THE    OBSERVATIONS    AND    REFLECTIONS     OF    A    TENDERFOOT 

EDITOR    WHILE    ON    A   JOURNEY    IN    THE    LAND 

OF    MONTEZUMA 


BY 

J 

JAS.  H.  WIIvKINS 


SAN   RAFAEL,    CAL. 
19OI 


(Copyright  1901  by  Jas.  H.  Wilkiiia) 


F 


These  letters  were  written,  as  the}-  purport  to  have  been,  during  atw^o 
months'  stay  in  Mexico,  with  no  other  object  in  view  than  to  fill  a  little 
space  in  a  countr}^  newspaper.  During  my  absence,  however,  the  em- 
ployes of  my  printing  office  gathered  together  the  series  and  published 
them  in  pamphlet  form,  not  for  sale,  but  merely  for  complimentary  dis- 
tribution among  friends  of  the  editor.  Since  then,  there  has  been  an 
inquiry  for  the  book  that  has  encouraged  me  to  strike  off"  a  fresh  num- 
ber. My  first  intention  was  to  change  the  form  entireh-,  but  a  little 
work  soon  satisfied  me  that  it  is  as  difficult  to  remodel  an  old  story  as  to 
reconstruct  an  old  house.  So  the  letters  appear  as  they  were  originally 
written,  though  here  and  there  expanded  and  with  some  errors  of  state- 
ment corrected. 

The  half-tone  illustrations,  although  in  a  number  of  cases  very  imper- 
fect, all  represent  actual  Mexican  life  and  scenery  along  the  line  of  my 
travels  and  are  from  photographs  taken  en  route. 

j.   H.  \V. 

San  Rafael,  Cal.,   1901. 


1531086 


A  Glimpse  of  Old  Mexico 


FIRST     LETTER 


T  is  easy  to  promise  a  lot  of  things  in- 
volving a  certain  amount  of  work 
when  you  set  off  on  a  sea  voyage  that 
should  contribute  many  vacant  hours 
in  which  some  mental  occupation 
ought  to  be  agreeable .  Yet  I  have 
ever  found  the  performance  of  such 
obligations  an  irksome  duty  and  have 
always  had  ample  cause  to  lament  hav- 
ing entered  into  them.  Last  evening 
T  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  good  ship  Colon  and  watched  old  Tam- 
alpais  vanish  in  the  gathering  shadows.  Those  who  have  gone 
down  to  the  sea  in  ships  know  how  that  notable  landmark  of  the 
Golden  Gate  lingers  in  the  vision  after  the  rest  of  California's  coast 
line  is  lost  in  the  ocean's  mist.  Long  after  the  sun  went  down,  I 
could  still  distinguish  it —  a  mere  fluff  outlined  against  the  sky, 
which  slowly  passed  from  sight — and  there  was  a  last  of  it.  That 
word  "last"  always  makes  me  sad.  It  is  pursuing  us  all  the  way 
through  life,  marking  graves  of  hopes,  ambition  and  friendships  at 
every  turn  of  the  road.  It  is  forever  the  last  look,  the  last  word, 
the  last  struggle  against  fate,  the  last  day,  the  last  hour  as  the 
journey  draws  to  its  close,  and  finally  the  last  resting  place.  If 
that  infernal  word  and  all  the  consequences  it  carries  with  it  could 
only  be  blotted  from  the  vocabulary  of  man,  what  a  bright,  cheer- 


6  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

ful  thing  human  Hfe  would  be.  It  is  with  us  to  stay,  however,  and 
naturally  the  last  look  at  Tamalpais  stirred  up  the  usual  sombre 
reflections  in  the  editor's  breast.  But  these  were  .succeeded  by  a 
still  more  profound  depression  when  I  remembered  a  rashly-made 
promise  to  employ  the  idle  moments  of  this  journey  in  writing 
about  Mexico  for  my  paper.  For  the  truth  is,  I  never  felt  less  like 
work  in  my  whole  career.  Life  has  not  been  exactly  a  bed  of  roses 
for  me  during  the  last  few  months  but  on  the  contrary  has  been 
crowded  with  incidents  that  leave  their  trace  on  body,  mind  and 
heart.  Wearied  with  many  sided  cares,  business,  official  and  poli- 
tical, the  predominant  desire  of  nature  now  is  to  spend  the  next 
few  weeks  in  a  loafing  match,  in  a  state  of  complete  mental  vac- 
uity, as  well  as  of  physical  rest.  So,  for  what  follows,  the  usual 
allowance  must  be  made,  for  a  man  seldom  does  well  what  he  does 
not  want  to  do  at  all. 

Anyhow,  it  is  difficult  to  write  about  a  foreign  country  in  a  way 
that  will  either  interest  or  instruct  the  fairly  well-informed  reader, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  the  field  has  been  gone  over  so  often 
and  diligently.  In  ancient  times  it  was  different.  Then,  if  a  fel- 
low chanced  to  strav  a  hundred  miles  from  home,  he  was  able  to 
tell  of  marvels  enough  to  cram  a  book.  The  story  of  Jason's 
prodigious  voyage  in  quest  of  the  golden  fleece  filled  all  antiquity 
with  wonderment  and  the  echoes  of  it  are  heard  dimly  to  this  day. 
Yet  if  he  ever  .steered  his  classic  junk  from  Greece,  it  is  certain 
that  his  voyage  did  not  cover  a  much  greater  distance  than  from 
San  Rafael  to  Alviso,  at  the  head  of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco.  So, 
in  the  biblical  stories  that  begin  "and  he  girded  up  his  loins  and 
set  out  on  a  long  journey, "from  which  momentous  consequences 
follow,  it  merely  meant  that  somebody  went  into  the  next  town- 
ship; probably  a  trip  that  you  or  I  would  take  nowaday  and  be 
home  again  for  lunch.  It  is  a  well  known  fact,  for  instance,  that 
the  journey  which  occupied  the  Children  of  Israel  for  forty  years 
could  be  traversed  today  by  a  railroad  train  in  four  hours,  without 
crowding  on  steam.  So,  a  person  who  now  does  the  globe-trot- 
ting act  does  not  have  the  chance  he  used  to  have,  and  unless  he 
keeps  his  eyes  mighty  wide  open,  he  might  circle  the  planet  and 
not  find  anything  new  to  tell. 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO  7 

i 
/■' 

But  if  I  wanted  to  pick  a  field  to  write  about,  with  a  fair  pros- 
pect of  presenting  something  novel  and  fresh,  I  would  unhesitat- 
ingly select  Mexico  for  my  subject.  For,  as  far  as  my  knowledge 
goes,  this  most  interesting  country  has  been  given  the  overlook 
by  the  travel  writers  to  an  unusual  degree,  and  the  literature  con- 
cerning it  is  singularly  barren  of  anything  really  valuable.  I  have 
explored  libraries  diligently  and  have  found  nothing  that  con- 
veyed to  me  a  fair  idea  of  the  country  or  its  people  as  I  have  seen 
them.  ]\Iost  writters  on  the  subject  are  bitterly  hostile  and  un- 
just, unless  we  except  certain  descriptive  publications  issued  un- 
der Mexican  authority,  which  perhaps  err  the  other  way  quite  as 
much,  which  is  equally  wrong.  For  although  I  shall  have  many 
kind  things  to  say  about  Mexico,  it  is  a  long  way  yet  from  being 
the  whole  thing. 

This  spirit  of  unfriendly  criticism  on  the  part  of  most  visitors 
to  ^Mexico  who  have  written  about  it  is  not  perhaps  so  unnatural. 
It  proceeds,  in  the  first  place,  from  fixed  habits  of  thought  more 
or  less  common  to  all  of  us.  We  become  accustomed  to 
certain  usages,  conditions  and  methods,  and  by  long  observing 
them,  and  by  practicing  the  same,  are  fully  convinced  that  they 
represent  the  correct  standards  of  civilization,  and  that  nothing 
else  does.  Therefore,  when  we  come  in  contact  with  a  people  who 
talk,  think,  act,  dress  and  eat  differently  from  ourselves,  the  first 
impression  is  that  we  have  encountered  an  inferior  race,  who  de- 
serve a  kind  of  contemptuous  pity  for  their  benighted  condition. 
It  is  a  notorous  fact  that  there  is  not  a  nation  today  that  does  not 
hold  all  manner  of  foreigners  in  the  utmost  disdain.  Now,  Mex- 
ico, to  most  comers,  is  like  a  new  world.  To  the  American, 
Englishman,  Frenchman  or  German,  it  presents  points  of  diver- 
gence at  every  turn,  and  even  those  of  the  Iberian  race  do  not  feel 
any  too  much  at  home  there.  It  is  not  very  astonishing,  therefore, 
that  the  average  observer,  who  does  not  go  very  far  below  the 
surface,  has  concluded  without  further  evidence  that  here  was  a 
people  hopelessly  and  irremediably  in  the  wrong. 

Besides  that,  it  was  not  so  very  long  ago  that  Mexico  had  justly 
the  very  worst  reputation  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  it 
takes  a  country  quite  as  long  to  live  down  a  bad  name  as  an  indi- 


8  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

vidiial — perhaps  longer.  Less  than  twenty  years  ago,  neither  Hfe 
nor  property  were  safe  there.  Its  government  was  weak  and  im- 
potent, changing  with  every  fickle  gust  of  popular  feeling,  and  its 
official  life  honeycombed  with  rottenness  and  corruption.  Its 
national  finances  were  ruined  and  its  credit  so  wrecked  abroad 
that  it  would  not  have  been  trusted  for  a  two-bit  meal  in  any 
money  center.  It  was  overrun  by  bandits  and  armed  bodies  of 
freebooters,  who  looted  practically  at  will,  until  the  whole  open 
country  was  depopulated  and  almost  every  industry  suspended, 
save  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  largest  towns.  Capital  would 
not  invest  there,  no  matter  what  the  inducement,  and  what  little 
remained  in  the  country  was  doing  its  best  to  get  out  at  any  sacri- 
fice. In  short,  if  there  was  a  land  on  earth  that  seemed  to  be 
going  to  the  devil  across  lots,  beyond  the  possibility  of  redemp- 
tion, Mexico  was  certainly  that  one. 

It  is  hard  for  many  persons  to  believe  that  this  so  recently  dis- 
tracted and  discredited  country  has,  within  a  space  of  about  a  de- 
cade and  a  half,  undergone  a  regeneration  that  has  reached  to 
every  department  of  affairs.  That  it  is  now  peaceful,  orderly  and 
admirably  governed.  That  crimes  of  violence  there  are  practi- 
cally unknown  and  the  security  of  life  and  property  are  as  perfect 
in  Mexico  as  in  any  country  in  the  world.  That  its  national  credit 
is  now  restored,  its  bonds  eagerly  sought  and  its  finances  on  a 
stable  footing.  That  its  industries  are  springing  into  existence 
again,  instinct  with  a  new  hope,  and  that  syndicates  of  foreign 
capitalists  are  hurriedly  sending  their  agents  over  the  land  in 
search  of  favorable  investments.  I  am  free  to  confess  that  I  went 
to  Mexico  brimfull  of  the  old-time  predjudices,  expecting  to  find 
a  people  hopelessly  backward  and  a  government  under  which 
one's  rights  had  to  be  maintained  pretty  much  by  force  of  arms.  I 
was  in  the  frame  of  mind  of  a  juryman  who  enters  into  the  trial 
of  a  case  with  a  "fixed  opinion,"  and  if  I  was  forced  to  alter  it  later 
on,  it  was  because  the  evidence  on  the  other  side  was  conclusive 
and  overwhelming. 

But,  referring  to  the  former  conditions  of  Mexico,  it  had  travel- 
ed so  far  in  the  wrong  direction,  was  so  profoundly  demoralized 
financially,  politically  and  socially  that,  if  left  to  itself,  it  would 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO  9 

probably  have  continued  to  go  from  bad  to  worse  indefinitely.  The 
situation  had  become  so  acute  that  the  people,  however  much  they 
might  desire  a  change,  were  powerless  to  carry  their  wishes  into 
execution.  The  conditions  demanded  the  genius  of  one  man  with 
statesmanlike  qualities  of  the  highest  order,  with  a  will  as  stern 
and  inflexible  as  fate,  and  a  resolute  courage  that  never  stopped 
to  calculate  dangers  when  once  his  mind  was  made  up.  Fortun- 
ately for  Mexico,  such  a  man  came  to  the  front  in  the  person  of 
President  Porfirio  Diaz.  If  I  were  asked  to  name  the  greatest 
statesman  of  all  lands  that  the  present  generation  has  produced, 
I  should  find  no  difficulty  in  placing  this  distinguished  gentle- 
man's name  at  the  head  of  the  list.  Measured  by  what  he  has  ac- 
complished for  his  country,  which  should  be  the  supreme  test,  he 
easily  leads  them  all.  He  found  Mexico  stricken  and  prostrate, 
hurrying  to  utter  anarchy  and  barbarism,  a  by-word  of  reproach 
throughtout  the  civilized  world.  He  has  restored  it  to  order,  made 
it  respected  abroad,  given  wealth  and  happiness  to  its  people,  and 
started  it  on  a  career  of  progress,  the  future  of  which  is  limitless. 
What  other  man  is  there  today  in  public  station  who,  in  his  de- 
clining years,  can  look  back  on  a  life  work  of  such  splendid  re- 
sults?" 

At  Sea  on  Board  S.  S.  Colon,  ]\Iarch,  1901. 


moM 


SECOND     LETTER 


HEN      Porfirio     Diaz 
President  of  Mexico 

twenty  years  ago, 


strengthen      on      the 


became 
something 
oyer  twenty  years  ago,   he  was 
Generally  resrarded  as  another  of 
the    executive    figure-heads    iset 
up  to  be  knocked  down.     It  was 
not  long,  however,  before  he  fur- 
nished evidence  that  he  differed 
in  many  respects  from  his  pred- 
ecessors.     His    first    move    was 
central     authority     by     remodeling 
with  those  devoted    to    himself    and 


to 

the  army.  He  ofiicered  it 
introduced  modern  regulations  that  changed  it  from  little  better 
than  an  undisciplined  mob,  as  apt  to  fight  on  one  side  as  another, 
to  a  fairly  efficient  and  reliable  body  of  troops.  Then  he  organ- 
ized the  rurales,  a  sort  of  mounted  police  on  the  Texas  Ranger 
plan,  all  composed  of  picked  men,  of  tried  courage,  sure  shots  and 
hard  riders,  who  have  developed  into  one  of  the  most  capable  and 
trustworthy  constabularies  to  be  found  in  the  world.  With  these 
adjuncts,  his  authority  w'as  fixed  on  a  reasonably  firm  basis.  Two 
or  three  revolutions  started  up  and  he  promptly  crushed  them 
with  a  thoroughness  and  attention  to  detail  that  fairly  took 
people's  breath  away.  The  ringleaders  were  shot  or  banished  and 
after  that,  getting  up  a  revolution  was  regarded  as  something 
more  serious  than  organizing  a  picnic  party. 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO  11 

Then  the  President  turned  liis  attention  to  another  matter. 
Mexico  had  long  been  cursed  with  a  class  of  professional  agitators 
Avho  never  could  rest  easy  under  any  form  of  government,  who 
Avere  eternally  stirring  up  internal  strife  and  discord  and  who  were 
the  only  ones  who  profited  by  it.  These  were,  as  a  rule,  ex-gen- 
erals under  the  old  regime,  soldiers  of  fortune  and  others  who  for 
various  reasons  exercised  considerable  influence  over  larsre  bodies 
of  the  common  people.  Diaz  justly  determined  that  there  was  no 
lasting  peace  for  Mexico  as  long  as  these  gentry  remained  in  it, 
and  with  him  to  determine  was  to  act.  He  accomplished  his  pur- 
pose as  gently  as  possible,  but  where  those  methods  failed  never 
hesitated  to  employ  others.  Some  were  deported  outright,  some 
took  advantage  of  a  strong  hint  and  left  voluntarily;  as  for  those 
who  elected  to  remain  and  brave  the  storm,  some  accident  always 
befell  them  that  brought  their  careers  to  a  close. 

There  is  a  story  that  I  heard  from  one  of  the  best  known  Ameri- 
cans in  Mexico,  that  will  bear  repeating  in  this  connection.  Three 
generals  of  the  unruly  type,  wearied  of  the  humdrum  life  under 
the  new  dispensation,  had  determined  to  run  the  chances  and 
start  a  revolution.  They  were  busy  on  the  plot,  when  Diaz  was 
apprised  of  their  plans.  Instantly  he  wrote  an  autograph  letter 
to  each  conspirator.  They  were  identical  in  terms  and  ran  to  this 
effect :     That  the  President  had  long    observed    the    devotion    of 

General to  the  welfare  of  Mexico.     He  had  also  observed 

with  deep  concern  that  his  close  attention  to  public  affairs  was 
undermining  his  health  and  he  therefore  suggested  an  indefinite 
vacation  in  Europe,  where  the  Executive  trusted  his  vigor  might 
be  restored.  He  furtlier  advised  that  he  depart  at  once,  as  delays 
in  such  cases  were  dangerous. 

One  General  skipped  over  the  frontier  as  fast  as  his  legs  would 
carry  him.  Another  thought  there  might  be  some  mistake  about 
it  and  wrote  to  the  President  that  he  was  profoundly  touched  by 
his  allusion  to  the  services  he  had  rendered  to  Mexico;  that  the 
letter,  in  fact,  had  caused  him  to  shed  tears,  but  a-s  for  his  physical 
condition,  he  wislied  to  inform  His  Excellency  that  it  never  was 
more  rugged  and  robust  and  that  he  needed  no  holiday.  Diaz 
answered  briefly:     "I  am  the  sole  judge  of  your  health,"  on  the 


12  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

receipt  of  which,  the  General  became  wise  and  followed  his  com- 
panion with  due  diligence.  As  to  the  third,  he  chose  to  remain  and 
see  what  came  of  it — and  he  saw.  A  short  time  after,  while  riding 
over  his  plantation,  he  was  set  upon  by  masked  men  and  shot  to 
death.  Whether  they  were  bandits  or  private  enemies,  or  secret  em- 
issaries of  the  government,  no  one  ever  knew,  nor  was  the  inquiry 
very  searching.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  General  troubled  Mex- 
ico no  more.  Of  course  I  do  not  vouch  for  the  truthfulness  of  this 
story.  I  merely  give  it  for  what  it  is  worth.  However  it  may  be, 
the  revolution  industry  soon  became  regarded  as  so  extra-hazard- 
ous that  no  one  cared  to  embark  in  it. 

That  being  settled,  President  Diaz  next  turned  his  attention  to 
the  suppression  of  the  bandits  and  freebooters  who  terrorized  the 
open  country  and  smaller  towns.  The  individuals  comprising  the 
principal  bands  were  well  known  and  they  were  legally  declared 
outlaws  and  detachments  of  troops  and  rurales  were  detailed  tO' 
hunt  them  dowai  and  destroy  them  wherever  found.  This  was 
something  over  fifteen  years  ago.  At  first  the  work  proceeded 
slowly,  for  many  of  the  poorer  people  in  the  smaller  towns  were 
in  sympathy  with  the  bandits,  supplied  them  with  food  and  ad- 
vised them  of  the  movements  of  their  pursuers.  This  condition 
of  things  w^as  fatal  to  success  on  a  large  scale  and  the  government 
finally  decreed  that  any  who,  under  any  conditions,  gave  assist- 
ance to  bandits,  should  themselves  come  under  the  outlaw  cate- 
gory and  be  subject  to  summary  execution.  The  rule  was  enforced 
with  unflinching  severity.  Whenever  it  was  known  that  robbers- 
had  visited  a  village  and  been  hospitably  received,  in  a  short  time 
a  column  of  troops  also  made  a  social  call,  found  out  as  near  as 
possible  who  the  sympathizers  were  and  promptly  lined  them  up 
and  shot  them.  Thousands  were  executed  in  that  way  and  there 
is  little  doubt  that  many  innocent  men  lost  their  lives.  It  is  a 
bloody  story  that  you  hear  of  those  times,  but  all  seems  to  agree 
that  it  was  the  only  medicine  to  work  a  permanent  and  speedy 
cure.  The  facts  speak  for  themselves.  The  fear  of  God  was  in- 
stilled into  the  hearts  of  the  populace  and  all  connections  between 
the  bandits  and  the  outside  world  was  broken  up  at  once.  Con- 
fined to  their  mountain  fastnesses,  the  outlaws  were  given  no  rest 


A  GLiMt'Sii:  OF  OLD  MEXICO  13 

or  mercy.  One  by  one,  they  were  hunted  down  to  their  death  and 
It  is  many  years  ago  smce  the  last  of  them  paid  the  penalty  of  his 
crimes.  Today  i  should  consider  Mexico  one  of  the  safest  coun- 
tries to  travel  through  in  unlrequeiited  regions  on  the  North 
.Vmerican  continent.  1  here  are  two  good  reasons  for  this :  First, 
because  nearly  all  the  bad  men  have  been  killed  oft ;  secondly,  be- 
cause the  punishment  is  so  unerring  and  terrible  that  to  embark 
in  the  highwayman's  trade  is  equivalent  to  constructive  suicide, 
i^or  any  oltense  of  that  character,  there  is  no  trial.  If  a  man  is 
guilty,  they  waste  no  turther  time  over  his  case  and  his  promising 
career  is  nipped  in  the  bud  by  a  hie  of  soldiers. 

Let  me  give  a  couple  of  illustrations  showing  the  prompt  oper- 
ation of  justice,  and  the  general  security  of  the  country: 

The  last  hold-up  in  the  State  of  Sinaloa  occurred  about  seven 
years  ago.  An  Englishman  and  native  attendant  were  traveling 
through  the  mountains,  when  they  were  set  upon  by  robbers.  The 
attendant  was  shot  dead  and  the  Englishman  received  a  wound 
in  the  tieshy  part  of  the  leg,  which  little  mishap,  however,  rather 
augmented  than  diminished  his  powers  of  speed,  and  he  made  good 
his  escape.  News  of  the  outrage  was  sent  down  by  telephone  to 
Culiacan,  the  capitol  of  Sinaloa,  and  the  Governor  of  the  State  at 
once  called  up  the  Prefect  of  the  district  in  which  the  crime  took 
place,  and  briefly  notified  him  that  the  ends  of  justice  demanded 
that  the  oft'ense  should  be  punished  within  forty-eight  hours. 
This  was  rather  close  figuring,  but  within  the  time  mentioned,  the 
Prefect  reported  to  his  Excellency  that  he  had  the  honor  to  in- 
form him  that  the  robbers  had  been  captured  with  the  evidences 
of  guilt  in  their  possession,  and  it  gave  him  pleasure  to  add  that 
he  had  at  once  shot  them. 

Again,  the  town  of  San  Dimas,  in  the  State  of  Durango,  is  a 
center  for  several  important  mines.  Every  now  and  then,  bullion 
trains  are  made  up  there  for  shipment  to  Mazatlan.  The  value  of 
these,  for  the  several  companies  concerned,  is  often  enormous, 
reaching  into  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  Yet  these  trains 
are  sent  down  to  the  sea,  through  one  of  the  wildest  regions  on 
earth,  either  unguarded  entirely,  or  perhaps  with  a  man  with  a  pot 
metal  gun  in  his  pocket  as  a  convoy.    They  are  practically  turned 


14  A  GLIMPSE  OF  OLD  MEXICO 

over  to  the  peon  muleteers,  and  no  one  dreams  of  the  trains  being 
molested.  1  do  not  wish  to  run  down  my  own  great  btate  ot  Cal- 
ifornia, but  such  a  thing  could  not  be  done  there,  ii  it  were  known 
there  that  a  vast  bullion  train  was  coming  down  trom  the  moun- 
tains unguarded,  some  of  our  capitalists  would  be  tormmg  syndi- 
cates to  hold  it  up. 

•'i1ie  pacification  of  the  country  being  completed,  the  President 
next  diverted  his  energy  to  other  questions  of  hardly  less  import- 
ance. Previous  to  this  time,  there  had  been  scarcely  an  attempt 
made  to  educate  the  masses  and  at  least  eighty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  population  was  absolutely  illiterate.  Mr.  Diaz  determined 
that  education  should  be  an  exclusive  governmental  function,  and 
should  be  compulsory  m  its  nature,  without  which  provision  httle 
could  have  been  accomplished.  This  system  was  modeled  largely 
after  that  of  the  United  States,  including  normal  schools  for  the 
training  of  teachers,  and  has  proved  a  triumphant  success.  You 
find  school  houses  dotted  all  through  Mexico  today,  well  supplied 
with  modern  text  books  and  apparatus,  crowded  with  attentive 
children,  over  whom  dark-haired  Minervas  rule  with  the  same 
dignity  and  grace  with  vv'hich  our  own  blonde  school  marms  have 
made  us  familiar.  I  think  this  wide-spread  education  of  the 
masses  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  facts  about  Mexico  today.  And 
wh'^n  we  judge  its  common  people  as  they  have  been  and  still  are 
in  the  older  generation,  and  criticise  their  poverty,  ignorance  and 
inclination  never  to  do  today  what  can  be  put  off  till  tomorrow, 
just  think  in  fairness  what  kind  of  a  chance  they  have  had  in  life 
until  President  Diaz  came  upon  the  scene.  Remember  that  for 
four  centuries  they  have  been  down-trodden,  looted  and  perse- 
cuted till  every  spark  of  ambition  and  hope  had  been  seared  out 
of  their  souls.  Remember  that  during  all  that  weary  period  they 
have  lived  in  a  dense  ignorance,  into  which  no  ray  of  light  pene- 
trated, and  that  for  them  all  the  triumphs  of  civilization  have  been 
but  a  closed  book.  Remember  this,  and  you  ought  to  find  less 
cause  to  wonder  that  the  peon  classes  are  apathetic  and  unpro- 
gressive.  I  am  confident  that  the  rising  generation,  the  boys  and 
girls  now  enjoying  the  advantages  of  education  and  the  discipHne 
of  school,  will  be  very  different  from  the  one  that  is  passing  off 
the  scene. 

At  Sea  on  Board  the  S.  S.  Colon,  March,  1901, 


THIRD     LETTER 


FTER  President  Diaz  at  length 
found  himself  in  complete  con- 
trol, and  at  the  head  of  a  well  or- 
ganized and  settled  government, 
the  largest  task  of  his  statesman- 
ship still  remained  to  be  accom- 
M'^^i^'^gj^^t^^  ^^  plished.  For  ^Mexico,  notwith- 
V^-^JnKlsM\i\  ^^  standing  its  vast  resources,  was 
p  Vv^  4^  uBH  desperately     poor    and    entirely 

■^^^^■^^^^■■^  without   those   modern   adjuncts 

of  business  and  commerce  that  make  progress  on  a  large  scale 
possible.  The  first  step  was  to  arrange  the  fiscal  system  along  new 
lines.  The  old  plan  had  been  a  merciless  form  of  exaction  from 
the  poor,  and  prohibitive  imposts  on  industry  and  enterprise,  with 
an  almost  complete  exemption  of  the  favored  classes.  All  this 
was  transformed.  I  cannot  give  here  a  complete  exposition  of  the 
fiscal  S3-stem  of  the  country,  partly  because  space  will  not  permit, 
and  partly  because  my  somewhat  imperfect  knowledge  might 
lead  me  into  mistatements.  But,  from  all  I  can  gather,  it  is 
founded  on  principles  of  justice  and  enlightened  common  sense, 
and  admirably  suited  to  promote  the  success  of  nascent  industries. 
The  main  sources  of  revenue  are  tariff  duties  on  foreign  imports, 
internal  revenue  and  stamj)  taxes  and  what  amounts,  in  effect,  to 
an  income  tax.    As  to  the  latter,  it  is  laid  this  way :    If  a  nmchero 


16  A    GLBIPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

is  engaged  in  cattle  raising,  he  pays  no  taxes  on  his  herd  as  long 
as  they  remain  on  the  range.  But  when  he  drives  them  to  r.iarket 
and  sells  them,  he  pays  the  government  a  fixed  percentage  on  the 
transaction,  and  the  butcher  who  kills  them  and  markets  the  meat 
also  pays  so  much  per  carcass.  This  certainly  had  the  effect  of 
stimulating  the  business  of  cattle  raising,  for  in  the  early  stages, 
the  owner  is  not  crushed  with  taxes,  and  when  the  time  does  come 
to  pay,  the  money  is  there  to  meet  the  demand.  Similarly  in 
mining.  During  development  work,  you  pay  the  government 
only  a  tax  that  is  purely  nominal.  When  your  mill  begins  to  run, 
however,  you  pay  a  very  modest  royalty  on  the  bullion  produced 
— about  one-fifth  of  what  is  demanded  by  the  Canadian  govern- 
ment from  the  Klondike  miners — and  if  for  any  cause  production 
ceases,  taxation  ceases  also.  I  take  the  word  of  resident  foreign- 
ers for  it  that  the  system,  as  a  whole,  is  as  wise  and  equitable  as 
prevails  in  any  civilized  country.  And  it  has  yielded  ample  reve- 
nues as  well.  From  being  bankrupt  nationally  Mexico  has  re- 
deemed herself,  and  its  credit  now  stands  high.  Large  surpluses 
have  been  devoted  to  public  improvements.  Among  the  most 
notable  of  these  may  be  mentioned  the  construction  of  a  complete 
government  telegraph  system,  reaching  to  every  village  of  three 
or  four  hundred  souls,  and  a  telephone  system  extending  to  prin- 
cipal points  under  control  of  the  several  states.  The  service 
charges  fixed  by  the  government  are  absurdly  low;  yet  they  are, 
nevertheless,  revenue  producers.  If  anyone  wants  an  object  les- 
son, illustrating  how  the  telegraph  and  telephone  companies 
squeeze  us  in  the  United  States,  all  he  needs  is  to  compare  their 
rates  with  those  of  Mexico. 

The  country  was  too  poor  to  enter  upon  the  vast  expense  of 
constructing  railways.  The  President,  therefore  entered  into  nego- 
tiations with  foreign  capitalists,  principally  those  of  America  and 
England,  which  resulted  in  the  granting  of  many  concessions,  or 
franchises.  Thousands  of  miles  of  railroad  were  constructed  by 
the  various  companies,  immense  territories  opened  up  and  a  cor- 
responding impulse  give  nto  business.  As  I  understand  it,  a  com- 
mission of  experts,  appointed  by  the  government,  fixes  a  sched- 
ule of  fares  and  freights,  subject     to     modification  as  conditions 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  17 

change,  which  is  incorporated  in  the  concession  and  must  be  ac- 
cepted by  those  seeking  to  do  business.  The  rates  allow  a  reason- 
able return  on  capital  invested,  and  no  more,  yet  that  does  not 
seem  to  have  discouraged  railway  constructing.  Among  other 
things,  every  company  is  required  to  attach  second  and  third 
class  coaches  to  their  trains,  on  which  the  fares  are  extremely  low. 
The  Diaz  government  has  also  held  out  many  important  in- 
ducements to  encourage  foreign  capital  and  skill  to  engage  in 
manufacturing  industries,  as  well  as  to  inspire  native  ambition 
in  that  line.  In  this,  the  demonetization  of  silver  by  nearly  all 
important  countries  has  contributed  an  enormous  impulse.  Mex- 
ico, a  silver  country,  found  the  rate  of  exchange  so  greatly  against 
it  abroad  that  it  could  no  longer  afford  to  purchase  extensively  in 
foreign  markets.  It  formed  a  barrier  stronger  than  any  tariff 
wall,  and  the  question  was  simply  for  the  people  to  manufacture 
for  themselves,  or  go  without.  This  stern  necessity,  stimulated 
further  by  the  influx  of  foreign  capital  and  mechanical  skill  from 
without,  has  worked  wonders.  This  country,  that  a  few  years 
ago  relied  almost  entirelv  on  the  external  world  for  evervthing  it 
used  outside  of  raw  materials,  is  now  very  nearly  commercially  in- 
dependent and  is  striding  ahead  rapidly  as  the  necessity  to  supply 
its  own  wants  stimulates  demand.  It  has  modern  plants  to  turn 
out  all  classes  of  textiles — such  as  cotton,  woolen  and  silk  goods 
— great  foundries  that  are  skillfully  managed  and  furnish  an  ex- 
cellent product,  boot  and  shoe  factories,  breweries,  machine 
shops,  flour  mills,  and  I  don't  know  what  not.  There  are  verv  few 
manufacturing  industries,  in  short,  that  are  prosecuted  in  the 
United  States  extensively  that  are  not  carried  on,  to  some  extent 
in  Mexico.  The  profits  are  said  to  be  very  large,  which  is  easily 
credible,  considering  the  cheapness  of  labor  and  the  important  in- 
ducements which  the  government  holds  out.  Foreign  enterprise 
and  capital  first  exploited  this  field,  but  native  Mexicans  are  now 
turning  their  attention  to  it.  The  country  is  generallv  jM'osper- 
ous,  wealth  is  accumulating  fast,  and  it  is  a  kind  of  wealth  that 
stays  at  home.  Xo  one  will  take  it  al)roa(l  for  in\cstment  or 
travel,  for  it  shrinks  b\  half  as  soon  as  it  crosses  the  border. 
Therefore,  the  holders  of  it  are  eagerly  seeking  new  avenues  for 


18  A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 

putting  it  to  useful  account,  and  generally  find  the  most  certain 
returns  in  some  of  the  constantly  expanding  enterprises  of  manu- 
facture. 

The  greatest  need  of  ]\Iexico  today  is  a  general  system  of  roads 
and  highways.  These  are  now  wretchedly  inadequate.  I  have 
seen  no  good  roads  in  the  country,  and  even  the  miserable  tracks 
laid  out  here  and  there  are  few  and  far  between.  Practically  the 
entire  internal  commerce,  away  from  the  railroad  lines  is  carried 
on  by  mule  and  burro  pack  trains,  a  most  imperfect,  expensive 
and  vexatious  substitute  for  teaming.  The  productive  powers  of 
the  country  can  never  be  fully  developed  until  this  condition  of 
things  is  changed.  I  understand  that  it  is  the  ambition  of  Presi- 
dent Diaz  to  close  the  record  of  his  great  career  by  making  at 
least  a  start  in  this  direction,  and  that  there  are  now  under  con- 
sideration plans  for  constructing  several  great  public  highways, 
to  constitute  the  main  arteries  from  which  the  lesser  ones  will  radi- 
ate. ^^'hen  this  is  accomplished,  and  the  miseries  of  mule  transpor- 
tation become  a  thing  of  the  past,  Mexico  will  assuredly  strike 
ahead  at  a  pace  that  will  astonish  the  world. 

1  am  nearly  through  with  this  end  of  the  subject,  but  one  thing 
more  should  be  said,  in  fairness.  There  is  still  a  general  impres- 
sion abroad  that  the  lesser  Mexican  officials  are  hopelessly  cor- 
rupt, and  that  in  order  to  get  along  at  all,  one  must  submit  to  an 
interminable  system  of  blackmail,  Setting  aside  my  own  per- 
sonal experience  to  the  contrary,  here  again  I  submit  the  univer- 
sal testimony  of  foreigners  I  have  met,  that  this  is  not  so.  The  very 
nature  of  the  appointment  of  these  officials  makes  such  a  state  of 
affairs  impossible.  All  the  district  and  municipal  officials  hold 
their  commissions  from  the  Governors  of  the  States,  and  at  their 
pleasure.  They  are  selected  with  care,  and  are  held  strictly  ac- 
countable to  the  Executive  for  their  acts,  and  an  appeal  always 
lies  to  him.  Under  these  circumstances,  wholesale  crookedness 
could  hardly  exist.  It  could  not  fail  of  detection,  and  summary 
removal  inmiediately  follows  that. .  And  removal  from  office  is  the 
crowning  disgrace  that  can  befall  a  Mexican.  He  is  branded 
thenceforth  as  "  a  man  without  shame,"  and  the  poorest  of  his 
countrvmen  avoids  him. 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  19 

I  have  endeavored,  in  an  off-hand  way,  to  show  how  Mexico 
has  passed  from  old  to  new ;  how  a  moribund  nation,  through  the 
genius  of  a  single  man,  has  risen  from  the  very  throes  of  death 
and  taken  its  place,  with  a  fresh  lease  of  life,  by  the  side  of  its 
vigorous  fellows.  The  status  of  its  government  today  is  anoma- 
lous. We  speak  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  but  it  is  a  misuse  of 
terms,  for  it  is  nothing  of  the  kind,  though  all  the  forms  remain 
and  the  essentials  of  liberty.  The  government  represents,  in  fact, 
the  supreme  will  of  an  enlightened  statesman,  who  has  only  the 
welfare  of  his  country  at  heart.  He  runs  the  whole  machine,  se- 
lects governors,  judges  and  legislatures,  and  whatever  he  says 
goes.  They  have  elections  still,  but  the  way  they  are  conducted 
is  enough  to  make  a  cat  laugh.  They  arrange  weeks  beforehand 
just  what  vote  a  candidate  is  to  receive  in  each  precinct,  and  can 
figure  out  for  you  the  final  result  to  a  nicety.  Mr.  Richard  Croker 
is  the  merest  novice  alongside  of  these  Mexican  experts.  This 
seems  monstrous,  but  it  works  well,  is  generally  accepted,  and 
what  more  can  one  ask?  The  explanation  given  is  that  the  peo- 
ple are  not  ready  for  complete  self-government,  that  with  three- 
fourths  of  the  electors  illiterate  and  ignorant,  it  would  be  to  in- 
vite destruction  to  place  the  destiny  of  government  completely 
in  their  hands.  But  it  is  also  claimed  that  their  rights  are  onlv 
withheld  for  the  present,  and  that  when,  with  education  and  prog- 
ress, they  develop  to  the  proper  intellectual  and  moral  standard 
of  citizenship,  they  will  be  accorded  the  full  powers  guaranteed  by 
the  Mexican  constitution. 

\y\\\  the  government  survive  the  death  of  Diaz?  That  is  a 
question  often  asked.  Some  believe  that  the  structure  reared  by 
his  genius  will  fall  asunder  when  his  strong  hand  is  no  longer  at 
the  helm.  I  think  otherwise.  Mexicans,  of  all  classes,  have  too 
sharp  a  recollection  of  former  miseries  to  ever  court  a  like  experi- 
ence, and  will  gladly  concede  to  the  successor  of  Diaz  the  same 
general  powers  that  the  great  President  has  so  wisely  exercised. 
It  is  said  that  this  successor  has  already  been  selected  and  has  been 
trained  for  future  honors  for  many  years. 


20  A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 

1 

Our  voyage  from  San  Francisco  southward  has  been  barren  of 
startHng  incidents,  nothing  noteworthy  save  the  sharp  change  in 
cHmatic  conditions.  When  one  sails  southward  from  the  Golden 
Gate,  it  is  natural  to  expect  summer  skies  and  balmy  breezes  all 
the  way  down  the  coast,  but  they  do  not  materialize  at  the  out- 
set. On  the  contrary,  the  farther  south  you  go  the  chillier  is  the 
weather  and  the  more  dismal  the  everlasting  fog.  But  just  as  you 
begin  to  think  that  some  mistake  has  been  made  and  that  you  are 
certainly  approaching  the  polar  regions,  one  morning  you  come 
on  deck  to  find  the  sun  shining  with  dazzling  brightness,  the  air 
warm  and  generous  and  everything  lovely.  Then  the  luxury  of 
the  trip  begins.  The  days  are  fine  enough  for  anyone  but  the 
nights  are  so  gorgeous  that  it  seems  a  sin  to  go  to  bed.  At  such 
a  time,  to  istretch  yourself  on  an  easy  steamer  chair  and  look  out 
on  the  phosphorescent  sea  while  the  breeze,  soft  as  the  touch  of 
a  mother's  hand,  sobs  through  your  whiskers,  is  as  near  heaven 
as  I  ever  expect  to  get  in  this  world  of  imperfect  joys.  Like  most 
of  those  who  have  begun  to  descend  the  hill  of  life,  my  habits  of 
thought  are  changing.  I  look  backward  rather  than  ahead.  I 
prefer  to  remember  rather  than  to  anticipate.  And  more  than 
once,  under  the  humanizing  influence  of  a  square  meal  and  a 
bunch  of  good  cigars.  I  have  whiled  away  the  night,  recalling  by- 
gone days,  listening  to  the  sound  of  voices  that  long  ago  were 
hushed  forever  and  hearing  the  music  of  songs  that  will  never  be 
sung  again,  till  the  first  faint  streak  of  dawn  glimmered  beyond 
the  headland  of  Mexico. 

The  glory  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company  has  de- 
parted. Time  was  when  this  line  transacted  by  far  the  largest 
passenger  business  in  the  world,  when  every  ship  was  loaded  down 
to  the  guards  and  it  was  necessary  to  engage  passage  a  couple 
of  months  ahead.  There  is  plenty  of  room,  now,  however,  for 
anyone  who  wants  to  travel  this  way.  There  are  barely  seven  of 
us  on  this  big  ship  and  the  steamer  before  carried  just  one  lone- 
some passenger.  Thus  has  the  competition  of  transcontinental 
roads  destroyed  this  once  enormous  business.  But,  if  few  in  num- 
ber, we  make  up  for  it  in  being  very  select.  In  the  list  is  an 
elderly  gentleman  whose  name,  Prof.  ,  is  famous  the  world 


A     GLIMP8E     OF     OLD     MEXICO  21 

over  as  a  metallurgist,  mining"  expert  and  scientist,  a  surgeon  in 
the  United  States  Xavy  on  the  way  to  join  his  ship  at  Acapulco, 
a  very  companionable  gentleman  like  most  of  his  profession,  a 
lady  who  cut  a  conspicuous  figure  in  society  in  the  days  that  are 
gone,  and  a  rather  talented,  though  highly  erratic  Englishman 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  my  nephew  and  myself  completing  the 
seven. 

The  smoking  room  has  been  the  common  rallying  place  for  the 
men.  The  Englishman  was  perpetually  endeavoring  to  get  the 
Professor  into  an  argiunent,  to  which  the  latter  was  not  averse. 
The  Briton  as  a  rwle  advanced  the  most  astounding  theories  that 
one  ever  heard  of,  and  the  Professor  with  his  clean-cut  reasoning, 
tumbled  ther-'  over  in  great  shape,  but  his  antagonist  was  not  a 
man  to  be  easily  silenced.  He  had  read  extensively,  had  the  term-- 
inology  of  science  at  his  finger's  end  and  when  cornered,  had  a 
most  ingenious  facultv  for  wriggling  out  of  logical  dilenmias,  to 
the  evident  irritation  of  the  other.  One  day  the  two  had  been  at 
It  hammer  and  tongs,  the  Englishman  contending  that  it  was  per- 
fectly feasil)le  to  make  gold  out  of  anv  old  thiuij.  The  air  was 
thick  with  molecular  attraction,  atomic  forces  and  the  like,  the 
de])ate  ending  with  considerable  warmth  on  both  sides  and  we 
walked  out  on  the  deck  to  cool  of¥.  A  seagidl  swept  by  with  out- 
stretched, motionless  wings,  passing  the  .ship  on  its  onward  course 
as  though  it  had  been  standing  still.  *'  Look  at  that  bird,"  said 
the  Englishman.  "  speeding  along  at  the  rate  of  forty  or  fifty 
miles  an  hour  without  any  effort  that  the  eye  can  detect.  It 
seems  to  me  that  common  sense  should  teach  us  that  the  accepted 
mechanical  explanation  of  flight  is  utterly  erroneous.  My  own 
theory  is  that  in  the  anatomy  of  Ijirds  there  resides  a  subtle 
electrical  or  rather  magneto-electrical  force  and  that " 

Here  the  old  ])rofessor  doul)led  u])  as  if  some  one  had  smote 
him  in  the  solar  ]:»lcxu-s.  "  Excuse  me,  gentlemen."  hg  said.  "  I 
am  not  feeling  well,"  and  staggered  off  to  his  (juarters.  His 
voice  was  not  heard  again  in  our  smoking  room  del)ates. 

We  are  off  Cape  St.  Ivucas  this  afternoon.  Tomorrow  T  will 
ascenrl  witli  dignity  to  the  hurricane  deck  of  a  nuile  and  strike 
out  for  the  tall  mountains,  from  which  a  stream  of  gold  and  silver 


22  A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 

has  flowed  for  centuries  to  the  sea.  You  wiU  hear  from  me  anon. 
I  win  try  to  tell  you  something  about  mining  and  agriculture  in 
Mexico,  about  the  people  and  their  customs  and  such  wayside 
gossip  as  the  journey  may  suggest.    Adios,  amigos. 


FOURTH     L  E  T  T  E  E 


E  arrived  at  San  Dimas  last  night 
and  are  now  resting  beneath  the 
ever  hospitable  roof  of  Don 
Daniel  Burns.  Here,  in  the 
throl~)bing  heart  of  his  great  in- 
dustries, amid  flying  wheels  and 
the  sound  of  grinding  rock,  the 
noted  Californian  has  made  an 
American  home,  presided  over 
by  that  kindest  and  best  of  la- 
dies, his  wife.  Here,  day  by  day,  with  his  wonderful  genius  for 
organization,  he  handles  the  details  of  an  immense  and  compli- 
cated business  with  as  much  ease  as  you  or  I  manage  a  dollar 
transaction. 

Some  time  ago,  I  took  the  same  journey  from  the  sea  to  San 
Dimas.  and  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  it  very  nearly  saw  my  finish. 
I  had  not  then  bestridden  a  horse,  to  say  nothing  about  a  mule, 
for  thirteen  or  fourteen  years,  and  the  sudden  experience  of  rid- 
ing some  forty  miles  a  day  over  a  rough  mountain  trail  was  al- 
most too  much  for  flesh  and  blood.  Every  nerve,  muscle  and 
fibre  throbbed  like  a  jumping  toothache,  and  the  highest  descrip- 
tive talent  the  world  has  seen  could  not  have  conveyed  even  an 
idea  of  my  misery.  I  faced  the  ordeal  of  a  second  trip  with  no  or- 
dinary trepidation,  but  1  have  gone  tlu'ougb  it  without  an}-  diffi- 


24 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


ciilty  beyond  the  purely  trifling  inconveniences  of  roughing  it, 
and  reached  San  Dimas  as  fresh  as  a  daisy.  The  same  is  true  of 
my  nephew,  Harry  Wilkins.  But  there  was  one  member  of  our 
Httle  party  who  fared  otherwise.  My  nephew,  against  my  earnest 
protest,  brought  with  him  a  setter  dog  called  Dewey,  well  known 
in  San  Rafael.  Dewey's  trials  w^ere  many  and  various.  On  the 
voyage  to  Mazatlin,  he  was  seasick,  homesick  and  sick  otherwise, 
and  testified  his  disapproval  of  the  proceedings  by  doleful  lamen- 
tation, to  the  unmeasured  discomfort  of  the  steerage  passengers. 


Col.  D.  M.  Barns.     The  Most  Successful  American  Miner  of  Mexico. 

His  first  exploit  on  the  trail  was  an  attempt  to  jump  a  cactus 
fence,  from  which  he  emerged  with  more  stickers  in  his  hide  than 
a  porcupine.  The  new  forms  of  animal  life,  also,  nearly  made  him 
idiotic.  He  tried  ever  so  hard  to  get  down  to  business,  flushed 
an  iguana,  an  interesting  lizard  about  six  feet  long  and  doubtless 
would  have  come  to  a  stand  at  a  caiman  or  alligator,  if  one  had 


A     (iLlMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  25 

happened  alont;-.  Then  he  liecome  footsore  and  traveled  most  of 
the  time  on  tliree  legs,  holding'  one  in  reserve  for  emergencies. 
He  wilted  under  the  severe  heat  till  he  had  not  energy  enough  left 
to  raise  his  tail,  and  if  it  had  not  l)een  for  numerous  water  holes 
alonof  the  trail,  caused  bv  recent  rains,  his  bones  would  now  be 
adorning  the  landscape  of  Mexico.  But  that  was  not  all.  Every 
house  along  the  trail  and  every  pack  train  swarmed  with  native 
dogs.  These  are  the  most  wretched  looking  and  odious  curs  that 
the  eve  of  man  ever  rested  on.  If  you  were  to  compare  them  in 
appearance  to  a  coyote,  the  coyote  could  justly  accuse  you  of 
throwing  mud.  And  their  disposition  is  on  a  par  with  their  looks. 
Xaturallv.  they  regarded  the  opportunity  to  chew  up  a  dude  setter 
as  a  kind  of  a  windfall  never  to  be  overlooked  and  attacked  our 
poor  quadruped  in  numbers  at  every  turn  of  the  trail.  Now,  Dewey 
in  his  far-away  home,  showed  none  of  the  warlike  characteristics 
of  the  great  admiral.  His  ways  were  distinctively  those  of  peace. 
But  when  he  found  himself  assailed  in  a  foreign  land,  without  just 
cause,  he  defended  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the  American  dog 
with  a  spirit  and  gallantry  that  would  have  filled  his  illustrious 
namesake's  heart  with  pride.  Though  beset  l)y  overwhelming 
odds,  he  proved  \-ictorious  in  many  sanguinary  battles,  and  soon, 
encouraged  by  uniform  success,  and  further  by  discovering  that 
there  was  not  mucli  fight  in  his  opponents  anyhow,  he  took  to 
charging  the  enemy  with  the  utmost  abandon,  without  waiting 
for  overt  acts.  After  that,  his  troubles  with  the  curs  were  at  an 
end.  If  Dewey  ever  returns  to  the  United  States,  he  will  have  lots 
to  tell  the  gringo  dogs  about  his  travels  in  Mexico,  and  will  doubt- 
less become  a  canine  Sinbad  the  Sailor  among  them. 

Still,  while  we  got  through  the  long  mule  ride  in  excellent 
shape,  nc\crtheless,  this  kind  of  tra\eling  in  Mexico  is  not  the 
same.  b\'  an\-  means,  as  touring  in  a  limited  train.  I  can  give  sev- 
eral valuable  ])ieces  of  advice  to  any  who  may  follow  in  my  foot- 
steps. In  the  first  ])lace,  take  a  well-stocked  grub  box  with  you 
from  the  coast.  The  food  sujjplx-  is  not  abundant  along  the  way 
and  not  always  agreeable  to  an  unseasoned  palate.  Take  also  a 
shrjt  gun.  for  the  countr\-  abounrls  with  small  game  of  all  descrip- 
tions; (|uail,  do\-es,   wild  ])igeons  and  a  grouse  called  (jueche — a 


26 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


noble  table  bird.  You  can  easily  kill  all  the  game  you  want  with- 
out leaving  the  trail.  Then,  by  all  means,  have  one  of  the  patent 
cots  that  fold  up  into  a  compass  not  much  greater  than  a  fishing 
pole.  Insect  life  is  rather  mmierous  in  Mexico,  and  if  you  sleep 
on  the  ground,  you  may  have  cause  to  lament  it.  We  went  one 
step  furthur — we  brought  mattresses.  This  was  a  concession  to 
the  solicitude  of  female  members  of  the  family,  but  I  am  willing 
to  testify  that  the  idea  is  not  half  bad.  But  those  mattresses  cre- 
ated a  sensation  along  the  trail  that  has  hardly  subsided  vet.  Wise 
gringos  usually  have  cots  in  their  travels  hereabouts,  but  I  am 


Mountains  Around  San  Dimas. 
■certain  that  no  mattresses  had  ever  penetrated  those  parts  before. 
More  than  once  they  were  on  exhibition  before  large  and  appre- 
ciative audiences  of  muleteers  and  resident  peons,  who  expressed 
their  wonderment  variously.  One  said  "They  must  be  very  rich." 
Another  old  sage  and  philosopher  remarked,  "If  they  go  to  sleep 
on  those  soft  things  they  will  never  wake  up,"  and  so  on  down  the 
line. 

Also,  do  not  allow  any  weak  prejudice  to  stand  in  the  way  of 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  27 

choosing  a  mule  as  a  saddle  animal.  A  mule  is  not  a  thing  of 
beauty,  neither  is  its  character  loveable  but  you  can  rely  on  it  to 
carry  you  safely  over  ticklish  places  in  the  mountains  when  a  horse 
would  be  a  mighty  uncertain  support.  A  mule  never  loses  its 
presence  of  mind,  never  is  disturbed  at  trifles  and  has  no  inclina- 
tion to  be  sensational  under  any  circumstances.  A  horse  in  apt 
to  shy  at  a  moving  leaf  or  take  a  mad  plunge  at  the  sight  of  a 
lizard  crossing  the  trail  and  is  liable  to  do  this  when  his  indiscre- 
tion may  drop  you  and  him  a  matter  of  five  hundred  feet  or  there- 
abouts. Then  a  mule  always  knowiS  where  he  can  go  safely,  and 
when  his  instinct  tells  him  there  is  danger  no  human  power  can 
move  him  on.  He  simply  plants  his  four  good  feet  emphatically 
and  nothing  short  of  a  convulsion  of  nature  can  budge  him, 
whereas  if  you  apply  a  whip  and  spur  to  a  horse,  you  can  force  him 
to  go  anywhere,  even  to  destruction  itself.  Alules  have  one  little 
habit  that  keeps  the  tenderfoot's  heart  in  a  flutter  until  he  under- 
stands and  gets  used  to  it.  The  trails  are  very  narrow  and  the 
projecting  burdens  of  the  pack  animals  touch  the  steep  hillsides 
and  compel  them  to  travel  a  few  inches  from  the  margin,  which 
every  now  and  then  overlooks  a  yawning  abyss.  Now  the  mule  is 
a  great  deductive  reasoner  and  he  seems  to  conclude  that  where 
others  of  his  kind  have  gone,  there  he  can  go  likewise  and  that  the 
safest  rule  anyhow  is  to  follow  usage.  So  the  saddle  mule  persists 
in  traveling  on  the  extreme  outer  edge  of  the  trail,  like  his  breth- 
ren of  the  pack  train,  and  when  you  come  to  one  of  those  dizzy 
precipices  \ery  common  in  the  mountains,  it  makes  you  gasp  for 
breath  to  look  down.  But  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt  to  make 
him  hug  the  bank.  You  may  jerk  him  in,  but  he  promptly  sidles 
out  again,  with  head  depressed  and  melancholy  air,  as  if  meditat- 
ing suicide,  for  which  he  always  has  ample  cause.  Tt  looks  horrible 
but  you  are  really  just  as  safe  as  in  your  rocking  chair  at  home 
and  after  a  day  or  so  it  ceases  to  worry. 

Then,  you  must  allow  for  the  fact  that  a  mule  is  a  marvelous 
character  reader  and  will  ascertain  your  weaknesses  in  no  time.  It 
seemed  to  me  as  if  all  the  mules  in  ^Mexico  had  me  sized  u])  right. 
They  understood  perfectly  that  T  had  a  chicken  hearted  disposi- 
tion anrl  didn't  liave  the  nprvc  to  ])unch  holes  in  llu'ir  liides  with 


28 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


the  cruel  spurs  that  I  wore,  and  therefore  that  they  could  loaf 
along-  with  me  pretty  much  as  they  pleased.  In  consequence  I 
always  used  to  be  four  or  five  miles  behind  the  last  man  in  the  pro- 
cession and  considered  myself  lucky  if  I  got  into  camp  at  all.  But 
one  day  I  happened  to  be  a  little  short  tempered  and  my  mule 
more  than  commonly  preverse  and  with  a  sudden  impulse  I  drove 
an  inch  of  steel  into  both  sides  of  him,  supplementing  the  same 
with  half  a  dozen  wallops  with  a  small  sized  cat-o-nine-tails  I 
carried.  A  dispensation  from  above  could  not  have  worked  a 
greater  change.    There  wasn't  a  more  ambitious  animal  than  mine 


San  Dimas  Creek  and  Glimpse  of  San  Dimas. 

on  the  trail  that  day  and  for  fear  the  tonic  would  wear  out,  I  re- 
peated the  dose  the  next  morning.  I  have  got  along  with  mules 
very  well  ever  since. 

It  seems  a  little  uncanny,  at  first,  to  have  dusky  shadows, 
swathed  in  red  scrapes,  flitting  noiselessy  around  your  camp  as  the 
night  falls,  but  a  little  experience  soon  reassures.  These  people  are 
absolutely  harmless,  and  such  a  thing  as  petty  theft  is  almost  un- 
known, especially  so  far  as  the  foreigners  are  concerned.     After 


A     OLBIPkSE     of     old     MEXICO  29 

considerable  inquiry,  I  can  hear  of  no  instance  of  camp  being 
robbed  while  its  owner  slept.  This  is  the  more  surprising  and 
commendable,  because  the  plunder  of  a  well-equipped  outfit 
would  represent  incalculable  wealth.  And  I  want  to  add  this — 
that  so  far  as  my  experience  of  mankind  goes,  you  can  find  more 
absolute  happiness  among  the  peon  classes  of  Mexico  than  among 
any  other  people  on  the  earth.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  true 
happiness  in  America,  for  no  matter  how  much  you  have,  you  al- 
Avays  want  something  more.  There,  it  is  an  endless  chain  of  dis- 
appointed hopes,  ambitions  unfilled,  of  heart-burnings  and  jeal- 
ousies, and  the  sundering  of  friendship  because  of  them.  You 
may  enjoy  any  amount  of  decent  prosperity,  but  there  is  always 
that  infernal  fellow  ahead  who  wears  better  clothes,  has  more 
money,  owns  a  later  style  of  automible,  succeeds  better  in  politics, 
or  moves  in  a  higher  social  circle,  on  whom  your  ever-restless  eyes 
are  fixed.  But  the  peons  are  all  on  the  same  plane,  know  only  the 
one  life,  and  it  suits  them.  Beyond  its  circumscribed  boundaries, 
they  ha\'e  no  ambition. They  perform  their  day's  work — and  here 
in  the  mountains  it  is  an  honest  one — and  expect  from  it  only  a 
livelihood.  Apart  from  that,  they  love  to  gossip  and  are  passion- 
ately fond  of  music  and  dancing.  With  these  amusements,  access- 
ible to  all,  the  leisure  hours  are  never  irksome,  and  they  ask  no 
more.  Among  them,  too,  you  find  the  epicurean  philosophy  in 
all  its  purity.  They  live  absolutely  for  the  present,  make  the  most 
of  the  fairweather  end  of  existence  and  let  the  future  take  care  of 
itself.  Tf  you  want  to  make  a  peon  mad  through  and  through, 
you  can  pursue  no  l>etter  course  than  to  exhort  him  to  save  his 
wages.  He  thinks  you  are  coxertly  trying  to  induce  him  to  com- 
mit a  crime  against  his  family  and  himself.  "No,  senor,"he  will 
reply,  "if  I  have  money,  I  will  put  food  in  my  istomach  and  clothes 
on  my  back.  I  am  here  toda}'.  but  tomorrow  I  do  not  know  where 
I  will  be  While  1  live,  1  will  have  the  best  I  can  buy."  And  I  am 
not  so  very  sure  that  there  is  not  as  much  wisdom  in  the  peon's 
j/nilosophy  as  may  be  found  in  the  lives  of  thousands  of  Ameri- 
cans, who  deliberately  dei)rive  themselves  and  families  of  every 
comfort  and  luinian  cnjoynirin  in  order  to  ])ile  u])  fortunes  that 
they  must  ultimatel\-  leave  behind  to  uKJck  them  as  the  grav«* 
closes  o\'er  their  endeavors. 


30 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


San  Dimas  is  a  brisk  little  mining  town  of  the  old  Spanish  type, 
bnilt  on  the  spnr  of  the  mountain  on  which  the  great  Candaleria 
Mine  is  located.  Its  day  of  glory  was  doubtless  about  one  hun- 
dred   and    fifty   years    ago    when    the    principal    veins   were    first 


Okl  Well  of  Hacienda  Balurte. 

opened  and  the  \'ast  ruins  of  ancient  works  show  the  magnitude 
of  the  operations.  The  old  Spaniards  builded  not  for  a  day  Init  for 
centuries  and  time  deals  gently  with  their  monuments,  even 
though  human  care  and  labor  were  withdrawn  long  ago.  Their 
aqueducts  in  this  district  are  still  in  perfect  preservation.  The 
walls  of  the  principals  buildings  stand  intact  and  will  continue  to 
do  so  for  many  a  year  to  come,  though  the  tile  roofs  have  fallen. 
The  great  Hacienda  Baluarte.  in  particular,  is  a  magnificent  spec- 
imen of  masonry  and  as  you  stand  within  its  court,  in  the  shade  of 
mighty  orange  trees,  a  century  and  a  half  old,  you  can  almost  re- 
construct in  fancy  the  ancient  times.  They  had  some  forgotten 
formula  for  preparing  lime  for  building  purposes,  for  it  hardens 
with  aee  till  it  becomes  infinitelv  more  resistent  than  the  masonry 

Its 


it  binds 


Twenty  years  ago  San  Dimas  was  on  its  last  legs. 


A      (;L1MP^^E     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


3t 


mining  industrv  seemed  exliausted  and  the  scant  population  was 
preparing  for  a  clean  up  and  departure  when  Col.  Burns,  needy 
and  unknown,  but  full  of  the  enterprise  that  -tells,  appeared  upon 
the  scene.  His  genius  or  luck,  whichever  you  choose  to  call  it, 
brought  the  Candelaria  again  to  the  front,  likewise  the  Contra 
Estaca  and  El  Pilar  which  had  been  forgotten  for  a  century.  Then 
other  capitalists  followed  in  his  footsteps,  opened  up  promising 
properties  and  now  the  outlook  is  that  San  Dimas  will  soon  be- 
come perhaps  the  most  important  mining  camp  in  Mexico. 

The  town  is  in  the  heart  of  a  rugged  mountain  range,  with 
many  impressive  peaks  in  the  neighborhood,  though  the  land- 
scape has  a  stern  aspect  from  being  sparsely  timbered.  It  is  just 
outside  the  great  coniferous    timber    belt    of    the    Sierra    Madre,. 


Col.   Hums'  Favorite  Corner,  whore  he    Overlooks    and  nirects  an  lia- 

niense    Inrlustry. 


which  begins  onl\-  four  or  five  miles  to  the  eastward. 


:i2  A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 

When  I  commenced  to  write  this  letter  today,  it  was  my  inten- 
tion to  devote  it  to  a  brief  description  of  the  great  mining  industry 
of  ]\Iexico.  But  I  rambled  on  from  one  subject  to  another  until 
I  had  about  reached  the  limit  that  the  acting  Editor  would  stand, 
and  to  give  even  the  merest  outline  of  the  mining  industry  here 
will  require  at  least  one  letter  by  itself.  But,  if  not  that  at  present, 
I  can  at  least  relate  something  of  a  mining  man,  famous  in  the  two 
republics,  that  will  be  of  interest  to  many  people  in  California. 
The  presence  of  Col.  D.  M.  Burns  in  San  Francisco  had  been 
eagerly  sought  for  two  wxeks  before  I  left,  to  adjust  matters  of 
momentous  consequence.  Telegrams  of  wild  entreaty  were  sent 
by  the  political  chieftains  of  California  to  San  Dimas,  but  still  the 
Colonel  came  not,  and  many  were  the  surmises  as  to  the  reasons 
therefor.  The  last  rumor  I  heard  had  it  that  he  was  sick  unto 
death  and  could  not  be  moved.  Well,  the  gentleman  was  never 
better  in  his  life,  nor  in  finer  spirits.  The  old  Candelaria  mine, 
which  he  loves  better  than  politics,  or  horse  racing,  or  senator- 
ships,  is  again  on  the  boom  and  is  turning  out  ore  from  several 
new  developements  that  would  make  your  heart  sick  to  think  you 
did  not  own  it.  If  the  mine  was  in  California,  the  daily  papers 
would  be  publishing  columns  about  this  marvelous  strike,  and 
hundred  of  miners  would  be  prospecting  the  country  for  miles 
around.  But  here  in  Mexico,  such  things  pass  for  nothing.  They 
merely  say,  "Yes,  the  Colonel  is  very  fortunate,"  and  so  dismiss 
the  incident.  But  the  grading  is  going  on  for  a  new  forty-stamp 
mill,  and  when  it  begins  to  run,  the  output  of  the  Candeleria  will 
astonish  the  world.  That's  why  Colonel  Burns  is  here,  and  reso- 
lutely persists  in  letting  the  other  fellows  walk  the  floor.  He  has 
his  business  eye  on  probably  the  biggest  thing  that  ever  came  his 
way  during  his  eventful  career. 

San  Dimas,  State  of  Durango,  Mexico,  March  12,  1901. 


FIFTH     T.  F  T  T  E  K 


ERHAPS  a  word  here  about  the  people 
of  Mexico  as  I  have  observed  them  may 
be  of  interest.  When  I  speak  of  the  peo- 
ple, I  do  not  refer  to  the  high  caste 
group  of  wealthy,  educated  and  refined 
men  and  Avomen.  These  you  can  find  in 
every  civilized  country  and  they  are 
very  much  the  same  the  world  over. 
But  while  they  may  influence,  they  are 

not  the  ones  that  make  a  nation.  If  you  wish  to  examine  the  po- 
tential forces  on  which  the  future  of  a  race  depends,  you  must  get 
well  down  among  the  masses  and  see  of  what  stuff  they  are  made. 
They  supply  the  creative  power,  they  make  a  community  rich  or 
poor,  progressive  or  unprogressive,  ambitious  or  sluggard.  Car- 
negie. Rockefeller.  \'anderbilt  and  Pierrepont  Morgan  never 
would  have  amounted  to  a  row  of  pins  by  themselves.  They  have 
piled  up  their  hundreds  of  millions  simply  and  solely  because  of 
the  genius  and  splendid  energy  of  the  American  people,  whic'i 
they  had  the  organizing  a1)iHty  to  take  advantage  of.  Amonsy 
a  race  of  loafers,  they  would  have  had  to  skirmish  to  make  their 
daily  bread. 

In  the  great  mass  of  Mexican  people,  the  Indian  stock  i)re- 
dominates.     1  should  say  that  at  least  three-quarters  of  their  an- 


34 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


cestry  could  be  traced  back  to  the  aboriginal  populations  of  the 
country.  But  it  must  be  remembered,  in  the  first  place,  that  the 
Mexican  Indians  were  of  a  far  higher  type  intellectually  than  ♦^he 
nomads  of  the  north,  that  they  had  a  written  language,  had  solved 
many  astronomical  problems,  were  expert  builders,  had  a  regu- 
larly organized  government  and  in  short,  had  traveled  far  on  the 
road  to  a  high  civilization.  How  sturdy  the  stock  was,  is  best  il- 
lustrated by  the  fact  that  their  descendants  are  here  today.  Fol- 
lowing the  Spanish  conc[uest,  after  the  natives  had  been  made  duly 


Scene  in  Humble  Life. 


aware  of  the  priceless  blessings  of  Christianity,  they  were  (li\ide'i 


A     OLniPSE     OF     OLD     :\[EXICO  35 

into  "repartimientos."  or  allotments,  and  assigned  to  the  various 
conquerors  wlio  liappened  to  have  a  pull.  Then  they  were  duly 
branded  on  the  cheek  to  locate  their  ownership  and  became  chat- 
tels of  masters  who  exercised  over  them  the  absolute  right  of  life 
or  death.  The  greater  number  of  them  were  sent  to  work  in  the 
mines,  the  remainder  being  employed  to  raise  corn  for  their  food 
and  to  pack  it  into  the  mountains.  The  miners  passed  practically 
their  whole  lives  in  the  damp  underground  workings,  to  prevent 
attempts  to  escape. I  have  seen  in  an  old  mine  the  niches  cut  in  the 
rock  walls,  where  they  slept.  It  was  as  rigorous  a  form  of  slavery 
as  ever  existed  and  in  most  parts  of  the  Americas  the  native  races 
crumbled  under  it  to  dust.  Less  than  fifty  years  of  the  system 
practically  exterminated  the  once  teeming  aboriginal  population 
of  the  West  Indies.  After  a  hundred  years,  in  Chile  and  Peru  there 
remamed  not  more  than  one-fifteenth  of  the  estimated  population 
at  the  time  of  the  conquest.  The  Mexican  slaves  alone  survived 
and  when  freedom  came  at  length  early  in  the  present  c6ntury, 
they  were  if  anything  more  numerous  than  when  Cortez  and  his 
followers  landed  in  their  country.  So,  physically,  at  least,  they 
must  have  possessed  the  rugged  type  that  goes  with  a  survival  of 
the  fittest. 

Even  when  liberty  was  given  them,  it  seemed  as  though  they 
had  gained  nothing  by  the  change.  Under  their  Spanish  masters, 
they  had  at  least  some  protection  from  outside  foes,  just  as  any 
valuable  chattel  is  guarded.  During  the  stormy  half  century  suc- 
ceeding Mexican  independence  even  this  was  withdrawn.  In  that 
distracted  period,  with  revolutions  occuring  every  few  months  and 
the  country  swarming  with  free-booters,  outlawis  and  desperadoes, 
the  helpless  people  suffered  even  more  severely  than  in  the  days  of 
bondage,  for  the  population  of  Mexico  decreased  rapidly,  the  loss 
being  estimated  variously  at  from  two  to  five  millions. 

.And  in  their  contact  with  European  civilization,  the  native 
races  acquired  nothing  worthy  of  mention.  Their  christianitv  is 
still  little  better  than  a  superstition,  founded,  not  on  a  belief  in 
God's  infinite  love  and  mercy  but  on  the  dread  of  what  He  mav  do 
if  He  gets  mad.  Not  the  slightest  effort  was  made  to  educate  them 
and  it  is  perfectl}'  safe  to  say  that  twenty-five  years  ago  not  one  in 


36 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


a  thousand  was  able  to  read  or  write.  In  no  sense  was  their  con- 
dition improved.  Cortez  found  the  native  races  clad  in  cotton  fab- 
rics and  cotton  is  the  dress  of  the  lower  orders  to  this  day.  They 
used  the  most  primitive  agricultural  implements — a  sharp  stick  to 
make  holes  in  which  seeds  were  deposited,  a  wooden  spade  and 
sometimes  a  wooden  plough — and  these  are  still  employed  in 
many  parts  of  Mexico,  though  in  other  sections  modern  appli- 
ances have  replaced  them.  Even  their  food  has  been  modified 
The  native  beans,    or    frijolis,    tortillas    or    baked 


very  slightly. 


-e«f 


vUisSi.'  «.■'.. *j&-j 


Peons  Shelling  Corn.    The  Grain  Falls  through  the  Frame  and  the  Wind 

Separates  the  Chaff. 

cakes  of  maize,  chili  peppers,  tomatoes,  together  with  indigenous 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  37 

fruits,  are  the  great  sta]')les  thc}-  were  four  hundred  years  ago  and 
are  prepared  for  consumption  the  same  way.  In  every  well  regu- 
lated peon  household,  you  will  find  the  Aztec  metate  or  stone  on 
which  the  corn  is  hand  ground  and  the  ancient  pottery  vessels  in 
which  their  food  is  cooked. 

It  is  scarcely  conceivahle  that  the  experience  of  four  such  cen- 
turies would  fail  to  leave  an  evil  impress  on  the  national  character 
of  anv  ])eo])le.  For  my  part,  the  only  wonder  is  that  they  did  not 
re\ert  to  utter  barbarism  when  finally  left  to  themselves,  just  as 
manv  races  ha\e  done  after  being  long  held  down  by  the  strong 
hand  of  ])hvsicial  restraint.  It  is  not  an  agreeable  task  to  enumer- 
ate the  shortcomings  of  a  people  but  as  I  am  endeavoring  to  pre- 
sent a  perfectlv  impartial  ])icture,  this  view  of  it  cannot  be  over- 
looked. 

First  and  foremost.  I  should  place  among  the  weaknesses  of 
the  Mexican  character  an  almost  indescribable  lack  of  anything 
api)roaching  thrift.  I  have  briefly  alluded  to  this  in  a  previous 
letter,  ^'ou  will  emjiloy  your  time  better  explaining  to  one  of 
them  the  mathematical  problems  relating  to  the  precession  of  the 
equinoxes  than  by  endeavoring  to  make  him  believe  that  any  good 
can  come  from  the  practice  of  economy.  Whatever  they  make 
goes  as  it  comes,  without  a  thought  for  the  morrow  or  the  evil  day 
ahead,  and  when  their  money  is  gone,  they  never  hesitate  to  ])awu 
their  little  personal  effects  and  the  very  clothes  on  their  backs.  If 
you  wish  to  hire  a  man  who  has  1)een  out  of  employment  for  a  few 
days,  it  is  almost  a  certainty  that  you  will  have  to  redeem  his  rai- 
ment in  order  to  enable  him  to  make  an  a])pearance  in  public. 
Their  recklessness  and  necessities  are  preyed  upon  by  a  sw-arm  of 
l^awn  brokers,  about  as  conscienceless  a  crew  of  pirates  as  can  be 
found  the  world  over.  When  you  find  a  genuine  shark  among  a 
people  given  to  free-handedness,  the  chances  are  that  he  will  go 
the  limit  and  something  more.  This  is  particularly  trtie  of  the 
Mexican  ])awnbrokers,  who  are  al)solutely  without  pity  or  re- 
morse. 1  ha\'e  watched  their  hard,  cruel,  merciless  faces  as  thev 
wfjrked  some  unha])])}  jjenn  to  a  finish  and  it  seemed  to  me  that 
the  toughest  Isaacstein  on  Kearney  street  looked  like  an  enlight- 
ened i)hilamhr(ii)i^t  by  cnniiJarisf :n.      In  some  of  the  large  centers, 


3S  A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 

the  g-o\ernment  has  opened  pawnshops  of  its  own,  great  estab- 
lishments where  money  is  loaned  on  any  collateral  on  reasonable 
terms.  But  this  system  has  not  extended  to  Sinaloa  or  Durango 
and  the  way  the  poor  people  are  pillaged  there  in  the  private  pawn 
shops  is  one  of  the  curses  of  the  country. 

The  unthinking  spendthrift  habit  is  without  doubt  a  very 
grave  national  defect.  Mexico  never  can  be  at  her  best  until  the 
mas.ses  begin  to  accumulate  and  have  a  more  substantial  stake  in 
the  country  than  they  now  possess.  My  impression  is  that  it  will 
take  some  time  to  work  a  cure,  so  profoundly  has  it  taken  root  in 
the  human  soil,  but  that  it  will  finally  be  overcome,  I  have  no  rea- 
sonable doubt  for  it  does  not  seem  to  me  an  inherent  vice,  but 
rather  the  inevitable  result  of  the  conditions  under  which  the 
people  have  lived  for  centuries.  During  the  long  period  of  slav- 
erv,  no  possil^le  incentive  for  thrift  existed  and  there  was  nothing 
for  the  poor  devils  to  save  anyhow,  for  they  received  from  their 
masters  only  the  most  pressing  necessaries  of  life.  Then  again, 
after  emancipation,  for  two  generations  or  more,  the  distracted 
state  of  the  country,  would  have  discouraged'  saving  ways,  even  if 
thev  had  existed  before.  Everv  little  town  and  farm  house  was 
pillaged  bv  revolutionists  or  outlaws  two  or  three  tmies  a  year  un- 
til it  seemed  the  very  part  of  wisdom  to  use  anything  valuable  that 
came  to  one's  hands  in  purchasing  high  priced  food  and  line  rai- 
ment and  promoting  hilarity  in  general,  rather  than  to  hoard  up 
the  pesos  until  some  fellow  came  along  and  took  them  away. 
Thus  the  acquisitive  instinct  became  rudimentary  among  the 
masses,  naturally  enough,  and  it  is  going  to  take  time  and  pa- 
tience to  develop  it  again. 

Another  failing  is  their  common  indifference  to  financial  ol)li- 
eations.  I  refer  of  course  to  the  lower  classes.  The  Mexican  mer- 
chants  and  business  men,  I  have  found  quite  up  to  the  average 
moral  standard.  This  weakness  is  to  a  large  extent  a  supplefnent 
of  the  other.  Being  so  everlastingly  prodigal  with  their  own 
monev,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  will  be  free  with 
vours,  if  vou  give  them  a  chance.  They  will  run  themselves,  head 
over  heels  in  debt  at  every  opportunity  without  the  slightest 
thought  of  how  it  is  going  to  be  liquidated  and  precious  little  con- 


A      GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


39 


cerii  for  the  same.  They  Aie\\-  such  matters  in  the  'true  philo'^ 
sophic  spirit,  never  are  annoyed  by  them  and  cannot  see  why  anyr 
one  else  should  be.  If  a  disposition  is  shown  to  become  disagree- 
able about  it  and  perhaps  demand  that  the  debt  be  worked  out, 
they  gather  their  small  belongings  and  go  to  some  more  congen- 
ial clime.  It  doe.sn't  cost  nuich  to  move  in  Mexico.  Of  course, 
they  are  the  chief  sufferers  l)y  this  habit.     The  people  are  at  the 


A  Mexican  Diligencia,  or  Stage  Coach;    Changing  Mules. 

mercy  of  company  stores  and  pinch-me-concerns  where  they  re- 
ceive credit  for  exactly  what  is  coming    to    them    in  wages  and 


40  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

where  the  druggist's  familiar  two  per  cent  profit  is  invariably  ex- 
acted. 

These,  in  my  judgment,  are  the  two  glaring  defects  in  the  Mex- 
ican character  and  the  hardest  to  be  overcome.  You  will  hear 
many  other  indictments  against  these  people  if  you  listen  to  cer- 
tain critics.  They  will  tell  you  that  they  are  instinctively  idle, 
treacherous,  immoral,  untruthful,  thievish  and  habitual  drunkards. 
All  that  I  can  say  is  that  my  experience  and  observation  do  not 
bear  out  any  such  accusation.  I  have  been  right  among  them 
and  found  them  exactly  the  reverse.  Of  course,  there  is  the  usual 
proportion  of  black  sheep  in  evidence,  but  I  am  writing  of  the  peo- 
ple as  a  whole.  And  that  brings  me  to  the  pleasant  part  of  this 
subject. 

In  the  first  place,  so  far  from  being  a  lazy  people,  I  consider 
Mexicans  thoroughly  industrious.  Most  writers  who  have  taken 
the  opposite  view  appear  to  have  formed  their  opinion  from  ob- 
servations from  a  Pullman  car  window,  which  undoubtedly  dis- 
closes a  goodly  number  of  shiftless  looking  loafers  around  every 
railroad  station,  or  perhaps  from  a  visit  to  one  of  the  tropical  coast 
towns,  where  you  can  generally  find  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
population  snoozing  the  hours  away  in  shady  corners.  But  de- 
ductions from  any  such  basis  are  most  misleading  and  do  a  huge 
injustice  to  the  great  body  of  the  people.  To  see  them  in  their 
real,  active  life  you  must  get  out  in  the  country  where  the  earnest 
work  is  done.  Follow  a  pack  train  for  a  day  or  two  and  mark  the 
incessant  labor  of  the  drivers  under  a  blistering  sun  to  keep  the 
line  moving  or  head  ofif  some  cantankerous  animal  that  wants  to 
fly  the  procession;  go  into  the  lumber  camps  and  watch  say  a 
dozen  of  them  pick  up  a  stick  of  lumber  that  weighs  more  than 
a  ton  and  pack  it  up  hill  and  down  over  any  kind  of  a  trail,  a  feat 
that  American  laborers  would  shy  at  every  time ;  then  visit  the 
mines  and  observe  the  steady  swing  of  pick  and  sledge  for  twelve 
mortal  hours,  which  is  the  regular  day's  work  in  Mexico ;  finally 
go  among  their  little  farms  and  note  the  prodigious  labor  in- 
volved under  their  crude  methods  in  planting  a  crop,  harvesting 
the  same  and  bringing  it  to  market.  If  after  doing  this  in  a  fair- 
minded  way.  you  still  declare  the  Mexicans  a  lazy  race,  I  can  only 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  41 

say  that  your  idea  of  what  constitutes     industry  is  very  different 
from  mine. 

Xor  is  their  industry  a  mere  physical  effort  and  uninteHigent. 
You  can  notice  among  them  a  distinct  mechanical  capacity  and  a 
good  mechanic  is  a  man  to  be  admired.  We  have  a  plumber  at 
our  mine  nick-named  Abraham  Lincoln,  from  a  rather  remote  re- 
semblance he  bears  to  the  great  commoner,  who  is  as  thorough 
a  master  of  his  trade  and  as  resourceful  in  applying  it  as  one  could 
wish  to  see.  He  has  had  charge  of  the  construction  of  several 
great  pipe  line  plants  in  this  section  and  of  the  complicated  con- 
nections with  the  mechanism  of  a  silver  mill  and  his  work  has  al- 
ways remained  as  a  monument  to  his  skill.  Very  fair  carpenters 
and  masons  are  to  be  found  in  abundance.  At  mining,  from  hand- 
ling compressors  and  filling  the  sub-ordinate  positions  in  a  mill 
down  to  the  purely  manual  part  of  the  business,  they  are  efficient 
and  reliable.  These  qualities  have  had  the  slimmest  possible 
chance  to  develop  in  the  past  but  with  the  revival  of  industry 
and  the  general  education  of  the  masses,  there  is  good 
ground  for  the  belief  that  marked  progress  will  be  made  by  the 
people  of  Mexico  in  the  mechanical  line  l)efore  the  century  is 
much  older. 

As  to  their  treacherous  ways.  I  have  also  failed  to  observe 
them  ;  quite  the  reverse.  To  the  best  of  my  judgment,  they  are  a 
singularly  open  hearted  and  guileless  race,  almost  like  children 
in  their  simple  hospitality  and  friendliness,  if  you  treat  them  right. 
The  real  trouble  is  that  quite  a  sprinkling  of  foreigners  do  the 
other  thing.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  met  some  Americans 
in  Mexico  whose  conduct  has  made  me  blush  for  my  country.  To 
say  nothing  about  more  serious  offenses,  their  manner  alone  is 
too  often  of  the  kind  to  ins])ire  hostility  and  a  si)irit  of  reprisal. 
They  walk  all  over  the  poor  people,  bully  them  and  show  their 
contempt  in  a  thousand  ways  and  then  wonder  because  they  are 
not  liked.  Of  course,  such  conduct  is  resented  as  it  would  be  in 
any  part  of  the  inhabited  globe  and  if  an  opportunity  presents 
itself  to  play  for  even,  it  is  seldom  neglected.  Then  the  cry  is 
raised  that  Mexicans  are  treacherous.  But  if  you  investigate  to 
the  bed-rock.  I  think  you  will  discover  that  in  practically  every 


42 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


case  where  a  foreigner  has  got  into  trouble  in  Mexico,  landed  in 
jail  or  been  run  out  of  the  country,  the  sufferer  has  been  one  of  the 
fellows  who  have  systematically  outraged  the  feelings  of  the  peo- 
ple beyond  the  possible  limits  of  endurance.     It  is  only  fair  to  add 


Farm  Mules.    Corn  Drying  on  Line  Overhead. 

that  these  are  the  exceptions.  Most  Americans  and  most  other 
foreigners  here  have  the  fundamental  instincts  of  gentlemen  and 
their  relations  with  the  natives  of  the  country  are  perfectly  ami- 
cable. 

■   Another  count  in  the  indictment    is  the    loose    relation  of  the 
sexes.     There  is  foundation  to  the  charge  to  this  extent  at  least 


A      (iLniPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  43 

that  ceremonial  marriag'e  among  the  peons  is  the  exception,  not 
the  rule.  Two  marriages,  if  any,  are  usually  performed  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical,  and  as  both  mean  fees, the  thrifty  people  usually 
prefer  to  celebrate  their  nuptials  by  having  a  good  time,  instead 
of  squandering  money  on  priests  and  magistrates.  There  are 
about  fort}'  families  at  our  mine  and  in  only  two  cases  ai^e  the 
heads  joined  in  lawful  wedlock.  The  balance  have  simply  elected  to 
live  together  in  tlie  condition  of  husband  and  wife  without  further 
form  than  mutual  consent.  I  know  that  some  of  my  readers  \vill 
cry  out  in  horror  at  the  statement  and  wish  never  to  hear  of  a  Alex- 
ican  again.  But.  on  the  other  hand  this  free  and  easy  relation  is 
maintained  in  a  majority  of  instances,  with  a  good  deal  of  fidelity, 
as  a  rule  to  the  close  of  life.  Of  course,  if  a  gentleman  becomes 
tired  of  his  matrimonial  lot,  he  is  privileged  to  terminate  it  sum- 
marily, but  our  own  conjugal  bond  does  not  hold  very  fast  when 
either  party  wishes  to  sever  it..  They  are  kind  and  indulgent  to 
their  wives  or  "women, "delighting  to  load  them  down  wdth  fine 
raiment  and  Jim  Crow  jew^elry,  when  luck  comes  their  way,  and 
are  devotedly  fond  of  children,  w'hich  are  propagated  in  swarms. 
If  you  view  these  conditions  from  a  purely  religious  standpoint, 
they  are  terrible  beyond  expression.  If  you  look  at  them  as  a  plain 
philosopher,  the  picture  of  humble  home  life  in  Mexico  is  not  an 
impleasant  one. 

As  to  being  of  a  general  larcenous  disposition.  T  know  otherwise 
from  abundant  i)ersonal  experience.  Of  course,  there  are  thieves, 
pickpockets  and  crooks  of  every  grade  among  them  but. they  are 
no  more  types  of  the  race  than  are  the  jail  birds  of  the  United 
States  re]:)resentative  of  American  manhqigd.  I  have  been  among 
the  common  Mexican  people  in  all  sorts  of  ways,  under  conditions 
admirably  suited  for  light  fingered  operations  and  often  with  an 
array  of  luggage  that  must  have  looked  like  a  boundless  fortune 
to  a  Peon  and  never  on  one  occasion  have  T  had  cause  to  lament 
the  loss  of  the  smallest  article.  For  myself,  I  wish  no  better  proof 
that  they  are  trustworthy.  They  possess  a  lively  imagination  and 
the  rich  Spanish  language,  which  deals  largely  in  superlatives  rather 
tends  to  habits  of  exaggeration.  Everything  is  the  biggest,  the 
richest,  the  most  beautiful  and  so  on  and  vnu  nuist  exercise  con- 


u 


A    GLIMPBE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


siderable  caution  in  assimilating  what  you  hear.  But  it  isn't  a 
malignant  kind  of  lying  after  all,  very  far  dififerent  from  tho.se 
kinds  of  untruth  that  have  made  the  vice  odious  the  world  over. 
It  is  rather  a  picturesque  form  of  drawing  the  long  bow  that 
doesn't  do  anyone  special  mischief  and  does  not  necessarily  pro- 


Verano.     A  Mexican  Mountain  Farm. 

ceed  from  a  vicious  heart.  As  for  intemperance,  there  seems  to 
be  a  strange  appetite  for  alcohol  the  world  over  and  the  Mexicans 
are  not  exempt  from  it.  The  majority  of  them  go  on  occasional 
jamborees,  but  the  chronic  soak  is  a  rareity  and  the  vice  very  sel- 
dom goes  to  the  extent  of  unfitting  therii  for  the  business  of  mak- 
ing a  living.     I  should  say  that  they  were  no  better  or  worse  than 


A     GLIMPSE      OF     OLD      .MEXICO 


45 


people  in  the  same  station  of  life  in  the  United  States.    If  anything 
the  comparison  would  be  in  their  favor. 

There  is  a  class  of  ]\Iexicans  with  whom  the  sojourner  comes 
in  close  personal  contact  and  from  whom  he  can  gather  a  very  fair 
estimate  of  the  general  character  of  the  people.  These  are  the 
"mozos"  a  kind  of  equestrian  valets  of  the  Sancho  Panza  des- 
cription. Everyone  who  wishes  to  be  considered  somebody  must 
of  necessity  have  one  of  these  attendants  as  he  travels  through  the 


Verano.     A  T  ypical  Mexican  Farm  House. 


country,  or  be  rated  forthwith  as  poor  trash.  Nor  are  they,  by  any 


means,  mere  rirnamcntal  fisjurchcads.     'I  hc\'  are, 


fact, 


elh- 


46 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


cient  servants  as  I  ever  met.  They  are  on  the  lookout  for  their 
emplover's  comfort  every  minute.  If  your  saddle  girth  needs 
tiehtenins:,  their  watchful  eve  ahvavs  detects  it.  If  your  mule 
casts  a  shoe,  they  carry  their  little  blacksmith's  kit  with  them  and 
have  a  new  shoe  on  in  a  jiffy.  They  always  find  you  the  coolest 
place  in  the  neighborhood  for  the  noon  siesta.  If  you  are  thirsty, 
they  know  it  by  intuition,  scamper  off  and  return  in  a  few  minutes 


\v 


^.'erano.  A  Primitive  Sugar  Mill.  The  long  arms  are  operated  by  mule 
power,  turn  ins;  two  v/ooden  cylinders  in  pit,  revolving  in  contact 
with  each  other.  K  Mexican  feeds  in  sugar  cane,  stalk  at  a  time, 
which  is  crushed  between  cyliTiders. 

ith  a  tin  cup  filled  with  cold  water  from  some  spring  that  only 


A     GLOEPSE     OF     OLD     AIEXICO 


47 


mozos  know  about.  They  are  familiar  with  the  best  stopping 
places  for  the  night  for  hundreds  of  miles  around  and  the  sublime 
impudence  with  which  they  will  take  possession  of  a  "casita"  in 
your  name,  elbow  the  occupants,  order  them  to  make  way  for  the 
senor.  get  a  move  on  and  do  it  quick,  is  a  sight  worth  seeing.  Then 


The  Donwnfall  of  Lario. 
after  your  luggage  has  been  cared  for  and  supper  prepared,  you 
can  listen  to  a  panegyric  on  your  virtues  such  as  you  never  heard 
before,  when  the  mozo  has  time  to  engage  in  conversation  with 
your  hosts.  I  suppose  the  rogues  indulge  in  these  rhapsodies  so 
as  to  shine  themselves  in  the  reflected  light.  At  all  events,  you 
will  learn  that  vou  are  wise,  brave,  rich,  generous,  of  illustrious 
birth,  related  to  McKinley  and  last  but  not  least  "muy  caballero" 
or  very  much  a  gentleman.  If  a  person  is  profoundly  enamoured 
of  himself  and  loves  to  hear  his  praises  chanted,  1  do  not  know  of 


48  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

anything  that  will  do  him  more  good  than  to  take  a  trip  through 
Mexico  with  some  of  the  mozos  I  have  met.  In  addition,  they  are 
imperturbably  good  natnred,  no  matter  what  happens  and  unless 
they  are  ill  used  become  sincerely  attached  to  their  employers.  I 
never  parted  from  a  mozo  that  he  did  not  tell  me  that  his  heart  was 
A'erv  heavy  and  one  at  least  shed  real  salt  tears  when  we  reached 
our  journey's  end.  Come  to  think  of  it  though,  there  was  one  ex- 
ception and  I  will  now  proceed  to  relate  the  story  of  it,  for  it  is 
pertinent  to  the  subject  of  this  letter. 

The  relation  between  servant  and  employer  in  Mexico  is  stately 
and  ceremonial  and  never  relaxed  for  one  moment.  Thus,  for  in- 
stance, when  you  address  a  servant,  you  first  call  him  by 
name,  as  "Juan."  He  answers  "Senor,"  off  comes  his  hat  Hke  a 
flash  and  he  stands  in  an  attentive  attitude  to  receive  your  orders. 
Similarly,  when  you  are  out  in  the  mountains,  it  is  the  mozo's  duty 
to  stand  bareheaded  at  a  respectful  distance  while  you  eat,  attend 
to  vour  wants,  if  you  have  any  and  never  touch  a  morsel  of  food 
till  you  signify  that  you  have  finished.  I  had  the  necessity  of  en- 
forcing these  rules  and  regulations  properly  impressed  on  my 
mind  when  I  first  visited  Mexico  and  was  warned  that  if  a  certain 
distance  were  not  kept  between  employer  and  employed,  the  latter 
invariably  became  sociable  and  *'fresh"  beyond  all  indurance.  I 
have  noticed  a  similar  tendency  among  other  people. 

\\'ell,  it  happened  once  that  I  had  to  ride  across  the  Sierra 
Madre  mountains  from  San  Dimas  to  the  City  of  Durango, 
through  one  of  the  wildest  and  most  unfrequented  sections  of 
Mexico.  A  Mozo  was  picked  out  for  me  with  due  care,  a  likely 
young  fellow  called  Lario,  with  a  splendid  record  for  ability  in  his 
line.  We  were  soon  far  up  in  the  mountain  fastness  and  that  feel- 
ing of  mutual  dependence  began  to  assert  itself  that  comes  nat- 
urallv  enough  to  a  couple  of  men  when  they  have  to  make  their 
way  through  difficulties,  with  the  suggestion  of  possible  danger 
thrown  in.  This  is  a  mighty  levelerof  social  distinctions  at  all  tin-'cs. 
If  my  great  and  good  friend,  Edward  the  Seventh,  were  ship- 
wrecked on  a  desert  island  with  one  of  his  footmen,  I  doubt  if 
rank,  station  and  precedence  would  bother  them  very  long,  espe- 
■ciallv  if  the  footman  were  a  bigger  man  than  His  Royal  Highness. 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  49 

At  all  events,  Lario's  elaborate  ceremony  became  almost  gro- 
tesque under  the  circumstances  and  I  yearned  for  a  little  good  fel- 
lowship, so  when  we  halted  for  the  night  and  the  camp  tire 
blazed  and  the  grub  sizzled  merrily  in  the  frying  pan,  I  told  Lario 
to  keep  his  sombrero  on  his  blooming  head,  sit  down  to  dinner 
with  me  and  be  sociable.  And  maybe  he  wasn't.  We  tossed  off 
the  regulation  mescal  cocktail,  ate  like  a  pair  of  cormorants,  had 
a  cup  of  black  coffee,  smoked  cigarettes  and  sang  Spanish  love 
songs  till  our  voices  gave  out.  But  what  were  the  consequences  ? 
In  two  days  Lario  became  the  most  worthless  vagabond  that  ever 
happened.  True,  he  loved  me  like  a  brother  and  was  willing  to 
do  anything  in  the  world  for  his  dear  amigo  Don  Santiago,  ex- 
cept work.  It  almost  took  a  traction  engine  to  get  him  out  of  his 
l)lankets  in  the  morning.  I  had  to  make  the  fire,  cook  the  break- 
fast and  do  most  of  the  packing  in  order  to  get  started  at  all.  I 
threatened  to  rebuke  him  with  a  club  if  he  failed  to  mend  his  ways 
and  then  there  was  ill  will  and  sullenness  which  lasted  till  Dur- 
ango  was  reached,  where  we  parted  with  mutual  disesteem.  If 
you  ever  visit  Mexico,  do  not  forget  the  incident. 

Xor  did  the  wrong  done  Lario  end  here.  He  went  back  to  his 
old  haunts  and  resumed  his  occupation,  but  no  one  could  toler- 
ate his  changed  ways.  He  was  discharged  by  one  after  another. 
Presently  he  had  to  seek  new  employment  and  then  his  descent 
was  awful.  A  year  later  I  met  him  on  the  trail  driving  a  pack  train 
of  burros.  Now,  the  drop  from  the  station  of  a  pampered  mozo, 
usually  employed  by  free  handed  Americans,  to  the  abject  posi- 
tion of  a  burro  puncher,  is  a  thing  too  terrible  to  describe  ade- 
quately. The  degradation  of  Dreyfus  was  trivial  in  comparison. 
Poor  Lario  gave  me  one  sad  look  that  recognized  me  as  -the  au- 
thor of  his  ruin,  then  dropped  his  eyes  and  passed  on. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  preponderance  of  the  Indian  blood  in  the 
masses  of  Mexico.  But  the  Spanish  strain  has  been  a  strone  one 
prepotent  to  transmit  many  of  the  admirable  (|ualities  of  the 
Iberian  race  and  modify  the  harsh  lines  of  the  aboriginal  features. 
In  fact  any  infusion  of  foreign  blood  seems  to  take  a  powerful 
hold.  Pure  blond  types  are  not  so  unusual  and  very  persistent, 
when  the  crop  is  once  sown.  Often,  it  is  not  difficult  tr  trace  them 


50  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

back  to  their  source.  For  instance,  long  ago,  a  red-headed  Irishman 
landed  at  Mazatlan,  journeyed  southward  in  the  direction  of  San 
Bias,  then  turned  eastward  toward  Tepic  and  at  length  reached 
the  City  of  Durango  in  this  round-about  way,  after  which  he  was 
lost  track  of.  It  was  not  a  long  journey — say  a  thousand  miles 
at  the  utmost — but  it  took  the  Irish  gentleman  many  years  to 
complete  it.  He  was  of  a  jovial  disposition,  always  ready  to  halt 
at  any  hacienda  or  pueblo  where  the  cheer  was  good  and  the  eyes 
of  the  girls  bright  and  never  in  a  hurry  to  move  on  as  long  as  con- 
ditions remained  agreeable.  He  left  no  great  impression  on  the 
history  of  the  nation  but  along  his  itinerary,  a  red-headed  genera- 
tion of  children  sprang  up  which,  singularly  enough,  marked  his 
exact  line  of  progress  through  the  country,  like  milestones  on  a 
county  road.  Of  course.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  cast- 
ing an  undeserved  aspersion  on  the  departed  Hibernian  or  of 
drawing  any  questionable  deductions  from  this  peculiar  coinci- 
dence. 

I  have  given  you  herewith  personal  impressions  of  the  Mexican 
people,  the  bad  together  with  the  good,  just  as  they  have  been 
seen  through  these  particular  eyes.  Other  eyes  are  just  as  good 
and  have  seen  differently.  Time  alone  will  show  which  is  in  the 
right. 

California  Mine,  State  of  Durango,  Mexico,  March  17,  1901. 


SIXTH     LETTEK 


UR  party  reached  the  hacienda  of  the 
California  Mining  Company,  of 
which  sonhess  corporation  I  have 
the  honor  to  be  President,  eight 
da}S  ago,  and  we  have  been  luxuri- 
ating since  in  the  finest  climate  on 
J I ...  n,=:=j>n->.,. — .jsjt^  .  ^^--.^  earth.  The  elevation  is  nearlv  six 
WMW^\\\ii''  •ST^i':^  thousand  feet   above   sea' level,   and 

such  a  thing  as  oppressive  heat  is 
unknown.  The  days  are  mild  and 
generous,  the  air  exhiliarating  and  the  atmosphere  so  dazzlingly 
clear  that  the  outlines  of  mountains  seventy-five  miles  away  stand 
out  boldly,  clear  cut  against  the  indigo  blue  horizon.  I  am  writ- 
ing now  about  the  period  fi'oni  8a.m.  to  about  7  p.m.  But  perhaps 
it  isn't  cold  when  the  sun  goes  down !  and  maybe  the  editor 
doesn't  pile  on  the  blankets  when  he  seeks  his  lowly  couch !  At 
the  beastly  hour  which  custom  has  fixed  here  for  breakfast  time, 
everything  is  frozen  stift"  as  a  board  and  the  thermometer  down  to 
twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  degrees  Fahrenheit.  But,  some- 
how, you  hardly  notice  it  after  the  awful  agony  of  getting  out  of 
bed  is  over,  and,  as  I  said  before,  by  8  o'clock  everything  is  lovely. 
These  sharp  changes  of  temperature,  however,  are  anything  but 
unhealthful.  In  the  last  year,  there  have  been  at  least  a  hundred 
and  fifty  people  living  at  this  camp  and  during  that  period  there 
has  not  been  a  single  case  of  illness,  nor  an  ounce  of  medicine, 
tmtil  my  esteemed  nephew  and  myself  unlimbered  the  small-sized 
apothecary  shop  whicli  female  solicitude  had  provided.     This  sec- 


52 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


tion,  in  short,  should  be  shunned  hke  a  pestilence  by  doctors  and 
druggists,  but  for  every  one  else  it  is  all  right. 

We  are  located  in  a  kind  of  transition  land.  This  is  certainly  a 
temperate  climate.  Quite  as  much  so  as  the  country  around  the 
bay  of  San  Francisco,  with  the  difference  that  the  nights  are  infin- 
itely colder.     But  not  more  than  a  quarter    of    a    mile  from  our 


Lookine;  TImwh  the  Canyon,  nom  California  Mine's  Main  Tunnel. 


house  or  shack,  to  be  more  accurate,  there  is  a  kind  of  jumping 
off  place  where  you  can  look  down  at  a  river  valley,  4,000  feet  be- 
low, and  into  the  genuine  torrid  zone  where  the  scorching  sun 
drives  every  living  thing  to  cover  under  its  meridian  rays  and 


A     GLniPSE     OF     OLD      MEXICO 


53 


where  all  the  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable  life  are  strictly  trop- 
ical. You  can  stand  there  and  readily  shoot  a  rifle  ball  into  the 
valley.  Somewhere  on  the  mountain,  the  two  forms  of  botanical 
life,  the  tropical  and  temperate,  meet.  But  this  meeting  point  is 
from  the  nature  of  the  country,  on  so  sharp  a  line  of  demarcation 


m  *he  Pines.     Lumbei-  Cami)  of  California  Mine. 

that  the  two  overlaj)  more  or  less  and  conuninglc  with  a  strange 
efifect.  This  extends  to  some  degree  as  far  as  our  hacienda.  We 
live  in  a  forest  of  sugar  and  yellow  pine,  oak  and  madrone,  yet 
rioting  in  it  are  ])alms,  gorgeous  tree  orchids,  bamboos,  gaudy 
climbing  vines,  that  stretch  frcjm  branch    to  branch  in  graceful 


54  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

festoons,  and  flowers  with  coloring  so  vivid  that  it  hurts  the  eye. 
Then,  all  day  long  thousands  of  parrots,  guacamayas  and  birds 
of  strictly  tropical  habitat  chatter  and  make  merry  in  the  foliage. 
To  be  sure,  when  it  comes  to  roosting  time,  they  take  wing  and 
drop  down  about  3,000  feet,  to  get  away  from  the  shrewd  nip  of 
our  nights.  So,  we  live  in  all  the  exuberant  beauty  of  the  tropics, 
without  the  drawbacks. 

Amid  these  pleasant  surroundings,  in  the  heart  of  the  great  for- 
est that  reminds  the  resident  gringos  of  their  far-away  State,  for 
it  numbers  many  of  the  trees  peculiar  to  California,  we  are  build- 
ing one  of  the  dandiest  quartz  mills  you  ever  saw,  just  at  the  junc- 
tion of  two  dashing  mountain  streams,  clear  as  crystal  and  as  cold 
as  ice.  The  walls  are  of  beautiful  red  stone,  just  like  the  Flood 
mansion  on  Nob  Hill — not  plebeian  concrete  such 'as  usually  pre- 
vails in  these  parts — and  some  of  the  more  important  timbers  are 
of  the  finest  cabinet  hardwood,  worth  all  kinds  of  money  in  San 
Francisco.  It  looks  more  like  a  millionaire's  establishment  than 
an  hacienda  for  turning  out  gold  and  silver,  but  a  few  months 
hence,  when  the  water  power  is  unhitched  and  the  wheels  begin 
to  revolve,  it  will  be  otherwise.  But  all  this  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  general  subject  of  mining  in  Mexico,  of  which  I  promised 
to  write. 

Of  all  nations  of  modern  times,  Mexico  has  been  by  far  the  lar- 
gest contributor  to  the  world's  store  of  precious  metals.  Ever 
since  the  conquest  by  Cortez,  nearly  four  centuries  ago,  it  has 
poured  a  steady  stream  of  gold  and  silver  into  the  channels  of  com- 
merce and  trade  that  has  exercised  a  momentous  influence  on  later 
history.  For  the  most  important  immediate  effect  of  the  discovery 
of  America  was  that  it  opened  up  new  sources  of  supply  of  the 
precious  metals.  \\'ith  respect  to  them,  the  old  world  was  desper- 
ately poor.  Barbarian  invasion  and  the  anarchy  of  the  dark  ages 
had  scattered  the  once  abundant  stores  of  the  ancient  civilization, 
and  every  form  of  enterprise  was  hopelessly  hampered  by  the  lack 
of  an  adequate  medium  of  exchange.  In  twenty  years,  the  New 
World  gave  to  the  Old  World  more  gold  and  silver  than  the  latter 
possessed  before  the  discovery  of  the  former,  and  the  impulse  was 
given  to  progress  and  civilization  that  has  never  ceased.     Mexico 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


55 


and  Peru  far  outstripped  all  contributors,  with  Mexico  well  in  the 
lead. 

Those  old  Spaniards  had  marvelous  noses  for  the  precious  met- 
als. Very  little  that  cropped  on  the  surface  eluded  their  keen 
scent,  and  the  country  is  dotted  over  with  the  ruins  of  their  for- 
gotton  industry.  But  for  obvious  reasons,  their  work  was  very 
seldom  thorough  and  comprehensive.  Their  knowledge  of  me- 
ciianical  appliances  was  extremely  limited.  If  a  mine  could  not  be 
operated  through  a  tunnel,  their  only  means  of  hoisting  was  on  the 


Building  a  Quartz  Mill.     The  Battery  Frame  in  Place. 

backs  of  ])eons.  who  carried  huge  leather  l)ags  up  what  are  ap- 
propriately  termed   "chicken   ladders" — mere   notched   poles   set 


56  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

aslant  in  a  shaft.  I  have  traversed  them,  hanging  on  with  four 
sets  of  nails  and  my  teeth,  and  then,  when  I  saw  a  native  go  sail- 
ing up  with  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  on  his  shoulders,  never 
deigning  to  reach  for  support,  I  couldn't  help  saying  "You're  a 
bird."  If  water  was  encountered,  it  had  to  be  lifted  out  the  same 
way.  Then,  the  processes  of  extraction  were  extremely  crude  and 
tedious,  certainly  not  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  value  being 
saved.  The  cost  of  powder  for  blasting,  also,  was  enormous.  So 
it  had  to  be  a  rich  mine  to  attract  a  Spaniard  at  all,  and  even  then 
he  came  to  the  end  of  his  rope  before  long.  In  fact,  what  they 
were  always  looking  for  was  "shipping  ore,"  that  is,  ore  rich 
enough  to  be  carried  to  the  seaboard  and  transported  thence  to 
Spain  for  final  reduction.  And  on  top  of  all,  the  enormous  roy- 
alty of  tw^enty  per  cent,  was  exacted  by  the  crown  and  collected 
with  merciless  precision.  So  the  old  Spanish  miner  did  not  have 
such  an  everlasting  snap  after  all.  Yet,  in  spite  of  these  obstacles, 
during  the  first  half  century  after  the  conquest,  Mexico  produced 
over  a  billion  dollars  of  gold  and  silver. 

It  is  known  that  the  Spaniards  abandoned  hundreds  of  mines 
for  the  above  reasons  while  still  in  good  ore.  Many  of  them  have 
been  reopened  and  have  produced  millions  upon  millions.  But 
far  the  greater  number  have  never  been  rediscovered  and  remain 
to  reward  the  explorer's  industry.  This  may  seem  strange,  yet 
it  is  a  sober  fact.  In  this  odd  country,  you  will  run  upon  the  ruins 
of  an  ancient  town,  a  half  wrecked  church,  large  enough  to  hold  a 
congregation  of  three  or  four  thousand,  the  remains  of  old  reduc- 
tion works  and  great  piles  of  tailings,  all  telling  of  a  once-prosper- 
ous mining  industry.  Where  did  the  ore  come  from?  Quien 
sabe.  Nobody  knows,  and  you  can  search  the  country  round  for 
miles  without  finding  a  trace  of  tunnel,  shaft,  or  beaten  track.  The 
explanation  is  simple  enough.  During  the  four  months  of  wet 
season,  at  least  upon  the  west  coast,  the  rainfall  is  prodigious,  far 
beyond  anything  an  untutored  Californian  can  conceive  of.  When 
it  gets  down  to  business,  it  takes  about  seven  drops  to  fill  a  horse 
bucket.  The  water  shed  is  also  very  steep,  and  under  these  con- 
bined  conditions  the  erosion  is  enormous.  Slides,  boulders  and 
debris  come  tumbling  down  from  the  mountains,  and  often  in  a 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  57 

fcAv  years  the  whole  face  of  nature  in  a  given  locaHty  may  be 
clianged.  In  this  way,  countless  numbers  of  old  Spanish  workings 
have  been  obliterated,  though  another  turn  of  the  weather  mangel 
is  liable  to  lay  them  l)are  again.  ^Moreover,  the  same  erosion  is  con- 
stantly exposing  new  ledges  that  were  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  the 
ancients.  Therefore,  l)ecause  you  have  prospected  a  region  once 
without  result  is  no  reason  why  it  would  not  pay  you  to  prospect 
it  again — particular!}-  after  a  severe  rainy  season. 


Frame  of  Timber  Hewn  l)y  Natives,  Illustrating  Accuracy  of  Work. 

Tn  fact,  one  of  the  things  a  newcomer  must  steel  himself  against 
is  the  stories  about  lost  mines — abandoned  during  vSpanish  rule  as 


58  A    GLIMPSE     OF    OLD     MEXICO 

above  described,  or  closed  down  and  forgotten  in  the  stormy  days 
of  the  ^lexican  Republic.  If  yon  fail  to  heed  this  advice,  you  will 
be  a  gibbering  lunatic  in  a  month.  For  these  are  not  stories  like 
those  current  on  the  mother  lode  of  California,  with  which  we  are 
too  familiar,  based  on  the  creative  memory  of  some  antique  moss- 
back,  who  remembers  to  have  heard  Long  Pete  tell  about  a  cement 
streak  yaller  with  gold  that  Bronco  Bill  and  Rooshian  Kate  found 
somewhar  near  Hog  Mountain  one  day  when  they  rid  off  from 
camp  on  a  drunk.  The  trouble  with  the  Mexican  stories  is  that 
they  are  absolutely  true.  They  are  founded  on  ofificial  records  of 
unquestioned  accuracy  and  other  authenticated  documents,  and 
they  will  conduct  you  ever  so  close  to  boundless  wealth,  but  stop 
short  just  when  it  comes  within  your  grasp..  Still,  there  have  been 
some  lucky  ones  who  have  followed  up  these  clues  to  fortune.  For 
instance,  I  heard  of  one  man,  and  this  incident  is  strictly  authentic, 
who  had  been  engaged  in  a  hunt  for  a  certain  lost  mine  and,  as 
usual,  was  slowly  gomg  crazy.  It  so  happened  that  he  found  a 
bundle  of  forgotten  manuscripts  in  the  deserted  church  of  the  an- 
cient pueblo,  and  among  them  a  letter  from  an  old  employe  in  the 
lost  mine,  addressed  to  a  priest.  In  it  the  devout  old 
miner  stated  that  as  he  came  out  of  the  tunnel  at 
night  he  could  see  the  lights  on  the  altar  of  the  church 
shining"  through  tb.e  door,  and  never  failed  to  cross 
himself.  The  piety  of  the  writer  did  not  impress  itself  on 
the  prospector  as  much  as  the  fact  that  the  mouth  of  the  old  tun- 
nel must  be  on  a  straight  line  drawn  from  the  church  altar  to  the 
door  and  thence  produced.  He  followed  his  investigations  on  this 
theory,  actually  locating  the  old  tunnel,  and  now  has  one  of  the 
most  valuable  mining  properties  in  Mexico. 

One  more  yarn  and  I  am  through,  though  I  shall  have  much 
more  to  tell  about  mining  in  Mexico.  This  story  is  from  Col. 
Burns,  wdio  seldom  speaks  in  narrative,  and  when  he  does,  is  w^ise. 
A  centurv  and  a  half  ago,  perhaps  more  and  maybe  less,  there  was 
a  famous  mine  in  the  State  from  which  this  letter  is  written.  It 
was  the  greatest  bullion  producer  of  the  age.  and  the  king's  fifth, 
or  crown  royalty,  was  so  large  that  his  ^lost  Catholic  Majesty  be- 
came interested  in  determining  how  long  the  revenue  would  con- 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  59^ 

tinne.  For  this  purpose  he  dispatched  a  royal  commission  to 
Mexico,  comprising  three  distinguished  mining  experts.  They 
examined  the  property  and  reported  that  there  were  one  hundred 
and  fifty  mihion  dollars  in  sight,  and  heaven  only  knew  how  much 
out  of  sight.  Almost  immediately  after,  insurrections  broke  out, 
the  countr}'  was  overrun  by  bandits  and  Indians,  and  the  mine  was 
closed  down.  Many  years  later  when  it  was  sought  for  to  exploit 
again  its  marvelous  treasures,  not  a  trace  of  it  was  to  be  found. 
As  to  the  existence  of  the  mine,  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt. 
The  report  of  the  Spanish  experts  is  .still  extant.  The  records  of 
the  City  of  Durango  tell  of  the  payment  of  royalty  there,  of  bul- 
lion shipments,  and  of  patent  rights  to  the  property.  We  know 
the  names  of  owners,  superintendents,  local  priests  and  what  not. 
You  can  be  conducted  probably  within  a  rifle  shot  of  the  right 
place.  Yet,  after  continued  research,  the  secret  of  the  lost  mine 
still  lies  buried  in  the  heart  of  the  Mexican  Sierra. 

California  Mine,  State  of  Durango,  Mexico,  March  23,   1901.. 


mm 


S  E  ^^  E  N  T  H     L  E  T  T  E  R 


T  is  nearly  three  weeks  since  I  arrived 
liere.  and  during  that  time  this  camp, 
or  "mineral, "to  use  the  technical  phrase 
of  the  country,  has  been  the  busiest 
place  in  the  district.  The  machinist, 
the  mason,  the  carpenter  and  plain  ordi- 
nary peon  have  been  plying  their  re- 
spective vocations  industriously.     Long 

lines  of  mules  and  burros  have  arrived 
daily,  loaded  with  machinery  and  supplies,  and  the  scene 
has  always  been  full  of  life  and  animation.  But  today 
the  sound  of  the  hammer  is  low  and  the  click  of  the 
trowel  is  silenced  and  the  ringing  cry  of  the  arriero, 
exhorting  his  laggard  mules  in  tuneful  blasphemy  is 
heard  no  more  far  up  on  the  mountain  side.  For  this  is  "la 
semana  santa,"  or  holy  week,  the  last  of  lent,  during  which,  for 
all  good  Mexicans,  the  commandment  runneth  "Thou  shalt  not 
Avork." 

I  am  not  quite  certain  whether  this  prolonged  holiday  is  ob- 
served from  a  spirit  of  profound  piety  so  much  as  from  the  deeply 
founded  belief  that  divine  punishment  will  surely  follow  its  breach. 
If  you  attempt  to  argue  against  it,  you  will  be  simply  overwhelmed 
"by  instances  of  impious  wretches  who  have  dared  to  labor  on  these 
"forbidden  davs  and  have  sufTered  some    awful    death    in    conse- 


A     GLIMr^E     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


61 


qiience.  We  are  crowding  work  on  our  mill  with  all  speed,  and 
yesterday  we  prevailed  on  some  carpenters  to  turn  out  and  finish 
some  seasonahle  work.  About  noon,  one  of  them  banged  his 
thumb  nail  with  a  hammer.  That  was  enough.  Clearly  the  inci- 
dent was  a  sign  of  divine  displeasure,  a  timely  warning  to  the  rest, 
which  none  should  presume  to  disregard.  Doubtless  this  instance 
will  go  down  to  history  as  an  illustration  of  the  perils  of  toiling 
during  holv  week. 


•v^ 


\ 


€ 


m 


Johnny- on -the-Spot. 


riicre  is  one  class  of  the  population,  however,  not  averse  to 
"lolv  week,  or  anv  other  time.     These  are  the  Chil- 


work'  niu'mi^- 


«2  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

eros.  a  kind  of  Mexican  Highlanders.  They  are  born  and  bred  in 
the  lofty  Sierra  region,  are  sinewy  and  athletic  of  frame,  frugal  of 
babit,  of  marvelous  indurance,  and  inspired  mighty  little  by  re- 
ligious scruples.  Added  to  this,  they  are  the  most  cheerful  and 
imperturbably  good  natured  fellows  that  the  sun  shines  on.  They 
are  further  noteworthy  from  the  circumstance  that  they  actually 
seem  to  enjoy  work,  the  tougher  the  better,  a  characteristic  that  I 
bave  not  often  encountered  in  this  imperfect  world.  They  are  not 
backward,  either,  in  bragging  about  their  appetite  for  toil,  which 
at  first  is  apt  to  convey  the  impression  that  they  belong  to  the  famil- 
iar "blowhard"  genus,  but  experience  generally  proves  them  as 
^ood  as  their  word.  We  have  one  particular  Chilero  in  our  em- 
ploy who  never  ceases  to  amuse  me.  We  call  him  Johnny-on-the- 
spot,  partly  as  a  tribute  to  his  unfailing  punctuality,  partly  because 
bis  true  name  happens  to  be  Jesus  Christo — not  an  uncommon 
cognomen  in  these  parts — and  it  seems  a  trifle  irreverent  to  be 
howling  for  him  under  that  title  across  arroyos  and  from  moun- 
tain tops.  I  have  never  yet  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Johnny  in 
repose.  He  is  a  kind  of  incarnate  perpetual  motion  machine,  and 
when  he  is  engaged  on  some  sort  of  a  man-killing  job,  his  face  fair- 
ly beams  with  happiness.  He  is  handy  at  almost  anything,  and  is 
usually  a  reserve  where  others  fail,  but  he  is  especially  great  as  a 
courier.  About  once  a  week,  we  have  occasion  to  send  a  messen- 
ger to  San  Dimas.  Now,  from  here  to  there  and  back  is  a  deadly 
ride  for  a  seasoned  horseman  to  make  in  two  days.  Johnnv  cev- 
ers  the  round  trip  in  a  day  and  a  half  on  foot,  and  usually  returns 
with  fifty  pounds  or  upward  on  his  back,  and  it  only  makes  him 
feel  proud.  He  will  then  probably  put  in  the  afternoon  in  the  pas- 
time of  hustling  heavy  lumber,  or  something  of  that  kind,  and  in 
the  evenings  he  calls  on  our  Superintendent  to  inquire  if  he  hasn't 
something  more  to  do.  Johnny  is  a  great  orator  and  usually  ac- 
companies these  final  appeals  with  a  speech  generaly  eulogistic  of 
his  own  good  qualities  as  a"trabajadore.'  "You  know,  senor,"  he 
will  say,  "while  in  your  service  I  will  never  flinch.  Day  or  night  I 
am  always  ready.  You  can  drag  me  from  my  bed,  or  call  me  from 
my  meals,  and  I  will  not  grumble.  You  can  never  give  me  any 
task  too  hard.     If  you  tell  me  to  jump  off  a  precipice.  I  will  do  it."' 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


63 


This  is  nearly  a  word  for  word  translation  of  his  latest  effort,  but 
it  lacks  sadly  the  setting-  of  his  fantastic  gestures  and  earnestness 
of  speech. 

But  this  ha6  nothing  to  do  with  mining  in  Mexico,  except  in  a 
remote  way.  which  I  started  to  tell  about  in  my  last  letter.  Not 
only  has  Mexico  been  the  largest  bullion  producer  in  the  world, 
but  it  has  also  had  by  far  the  greatest  gold  and  silver  mines.  Cal- 
ifornians  have  to  be  rather  careful  here  how  they  swell  up  about 


->-"^'  •  ••^Ps*  ■   '^l^^wSm 


]'ackiug    Mir.iui<    Macliineiy.     Tho  "Retort"  reaches    Camp.     \Veis;ht, 

;1jO  Ib.s. 

the  wonderful  record  of  some  great  property  in  their  own  beloved 
State,  which  has  turned  out  say  five  or  six  millions  of  dollars.    The 


64  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

Mexican  auditor  will  probably  smile  and  remark,  "Yes,  a  very  nice 
little  pocket."  What  they  call  a  good  mine  here  is  one  that  has 
produced  say  fifty  millions,  and  a  big,  first  class  mine  is  one  that 
has  run  from  one  hundred  millions  upward.  And  there  are  plenty^ 
even  of  the  latter.  The  greatest  mine  of  Mexico,  and  of  the  world,^ 
is  the  Valenciana,  which  has  paid  royalty  on  more  than  one  billion 
dollars  produced.  Not  far  from  our  camp  is  the  Guadalupe  de  los 
Reyes  mine.  It  has  been  worked  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  and 
is  still  turning  out  nearly  two  million  dollars  a  year.  The  famous 
Candelaria  mine,  also  in  this  neighborhood,  was  opened  in  the 
year  1767  by  a  Spaniard  named  Zambrano.  In  the  first  ten  years 
of  his  ownership,  he  paid  royalty  in  the  City  of  Durango  on  fifty- 
five  million  dollars  of  bullion.  This  mine  has  been  w^orked  off  and 
on  since  then,  made  many  a  fortune,  and  was  finally  shut  down 
and  practically  abandoned.  Messrs.  Burns  and  Waterhouse 
bought  it  for  a  trifle,  opened  up  lower  levels,  took  out  millions  up- 
on millions,  and  now%  as  stated  in  a  former  letter,  have  struck  new 
ore  bodies  of  great  extent  and  enormous  richness.  Similar  in- 
stances, without  number,  could  be  mentioned.  In  fact,  the  bottom 
has  never  been  reached  of  any  of  the  great  mines  in  this  district. 
The  Candelaria,  in  its  old  age,  is  producing  over  half  a  million  a 
year.  With  the  new  plant  in  operation,  this  will  be  more  than 
doubled  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  will  keep  up 
that  average  for  another  century  yet. 

Nearly  all  these  mines  carry  both  gold  and  silver.  The  impres- 
sion prevails  in  the  United  States  that  Mexico  is  almost  exclus- 
ively a  silver  mining  country,  but  the  fact  is  that  most  of  the  veins 
operated  carry  gold  enough  to  justify  their  being  worked  for  that 
metal  alone.  In  our  own  country,  four  dollar  rock  in  a  favorable 
location  is  looked  on  as  a  good  enough  thing  for  anybody. 
Nearlv  all  the  mines  in  this  neighborhood  carry  that  much  gold,- 
and  from  ten  dollars  upward  of  silver,  which  is  not  a  bad  thing  tO' 
have  as  a  bi-product.  And  my  impression  is  that  mining  can  be 
carried  on  cheaper  here  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

Notwithstanding  the  work  of  four  hundred  years,  no  one  can 
visit  Mexico  without  being  convinced  that  mining  here  is  still  in 
its  infancv.     Either  wood  or  water  for  power  is  considered  an  es- 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


65 


sential.  and  when  these  are  not  at  hand,  no  attempt  has  been  made 
to  develop  promising  ledges.  Yet  there  are  great  streams, 
descending  rapidly  from  the  monntains,  whose  energy  could  be 
converted  into  electric  power  and  carried  on  wires  from  one  loca- 
tion to  another.  Two  or  three  such  plants,  costing  perhaps  half 
a  million  dollars,  would  niake  the  wheels  turn  in  not  less  than  a 
hundred  mines  now  lying  idle  in  the  San  Dimas  District.     But 


Packing  Mining  Mae-hinery.     Ariival  of  a  Tiain. 
aside  from  mines  thai  .-irc  un(le\  eloped  from  lack  of  cheap  and  con- 


G6 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


venient  power,  the  prospector  has  here  an  immense  field  in  which 
the  conditions  are  generally  favorable.  There  are  many  ledges, 
well  worthy  of  exploration,  that  have  never  been  cut,  and  old 
Spanish  workings  that  usually  prove  profitable  when  opened  up, 
and  sometimes  lead  to  immense  bonanzas.  But  it  requires  money 
to  do  all  this,  and  for  the  lack  of  it  many  a  promising  property  lies 
idle.     For,  be  it  understood,  this  is  not  a  poor  man's  country  for 


Packing  Mining  Machinery-     The  Pile  to  the  Left  is  Home-made  Lime 

for  Masonry. 

a  miner.    You  never  can  carve  out  a  fortune  here  with  no  greater 
capital  than  a  strong  pair  of  arms,  a  pick  and  a  shovel.    You  must 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  67 

have  the  stuff — not  as  much  as  you  need  to  develop  a  mine  in  Cal- 
ifornia, but.  nevertheless,  a  fair  sized  purse. 

A  number  of  circumstances  have  combined  to  cripple  the  min- 
ing industry  in  ]\'Iexico  and  prevent  the  investment  of  foreign  capi- 
tal. In  the  first  place,  the  unsettledcondition  of  the  country  in 
former  times  was  an  insuperable  barrier.  Some  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years  ago,  when  the  Diaz  administration  had  succeeded  in  enforc- 
ing something  like  order,  thousands  of  mining  men  swarmed  into 
Mexico,  principally  on  the  west  coast.  It  was  then  that  an  epi- 
demic of  yellow  fever,  imported  by  a  theatrical  troupe  from  Hav- 
ana, broke  out  in  IMazatlan  and  spread  rapidly  through  the  mining 
regions.  Hundreds  of  foreigners  died,  and  the  remainder  de- 
parted with  more  alacrity  than  they  came.  The  country  gained  an 
ill  repute  from  this  incident  from  which  it  has  not  fully  recovered 
to  this  day,  though  not  another  case  of  yellow  fever  has  been  re- 
ported since  on  the  west  coast.  Then  came  the  drop  in  silver  val- 
ues, the  end  of  which  no  one  was  able  to  foretell,  which  at  one  time 
cut  the  former  profits  of  mining  in  two.  But  of  all  causes  of  dis- 
trust, the  most  serious  has  been  the  many  failures  and  immense 
losses  occasioned  through  investments  made  by  parties  who  had 
never  been  in  the  country,' knew  nothing  about  the  conditions,  and 
to  make  matters  worse,  intrusted  their  interests  to  ignoramuses 
or  knaves.  The  follies  committed  .in  the  name  of  mining  by  com- 
panies organized  in  St.  Louis,  New  York,  England  and  elsewhere 
pass  all  belief.  Mexico  is  dotted  over  with  the  most  weird  and 
awful  machinery,  constructed  without  the  slightest  idea  of  the 
work  in  hand,  transported  thousands  of  miles  at  a  vast  expense 
and  finally  abandoned  before  it  reached  its  destination. 

One  instance  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  almost  incredible  lack 
of  common  intelligence  that  has  marked  most  mining 
enterprises  here.  Not  far  from  us  is  quite  a  famous 
mine  owned  by  a  swell  English  company.  There  is  no  use  giving 
its  name;  suffice  it  to  say  that  half  the  nobility  in  the  tight  little 
isle  are  shareholders,  even  such  an  exalted  personage  as  Her 
Royal  Highness,  the  Princess  Beatrice,  being  interested.  The 
story  goes  that  the  mine  was  "salted'  on  the  blooming  British  ex- 
pert who  examined  it  for  his  titled  clients,  but,  however  that  may 


68 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


be,  the  company  proceeded  to  develop  the  property,  and  by  some 
perversity  of  fortune  actually  blundered  onto  a  great  body  of  rich 
ore  that  nobody  dreamed  of  being  in  the  neghborhood.  Of 
course,  that  meant  a  big  quartz  mill.  Now,  the  mine  in  question 
is  located  in  the  heart  of  one  of  the  finest  forests  in  the  world, 
where  native  w^oodsmen  can  hew  out  on  the  spot  beams  of  any  di- 
mensions at  an  almost  nominal  cost.     This  would  usually  be  re- 


The  Hunting  Party.     T.  W.  Tompkins,  Frank  Moseley,  J.  H.  Wilkins, 

Harry  Wilkins. 

garded  as  a  most  acceptable  piece  of  good  fortune,  but  did  the 
English  shareholders  take  advantage  of  it?     Far  from  it.     Every 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  69 

stick  of  lumber  for  that  mill  was  framed  in  the  city  of  London, 
shipped  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  carried  by  mule  teams  eight 
hundred  miles  to  the  City  of  Durango,  where  the  remarkable  dis- 
covery was  made  that  the  great  pieces  of  lumber  could  no  more 
be  carried  over  the  remaining  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  steep  and 
tortuous  mountain  trail  than  the  Pyramid  of  Cheops.  A  desper- 
ate effort  was  made  to  get  some  of  the  lighter  stuff  through,  but 
it  finally  stranded  about  thirty  miles  outside  of  Durango,  wdiere 
it  remans  to  this  day.     These  eyes  have  .seen  it. 

The  mine  is  a  marvel.  The  mill  was  subsequently  built  with 
the  local  .timber,  the  wheels  turned  and  the  bullion  commenced 
to  grind  out.  Then  the  stockholders  began  to  send  their  younger 
sons  and  ne'er-do-weels  and  saddle  them  on  the  enterprise  as  as- 
sistant superintendents,  deputy  assistant  superintendents,  and 
vice  deputy  assistant  superintendents,  until  there  was  an  official 
list  as  long  as  your  leg,  and  every  man  jack  of  them  wdth  a  peach 
of  a  salary.  The  young  gentlemen  maintain  no  end  of  style,  keep 
up  golf  links,  lawn  tennis  grounds  and  a  polo  course,  take  their 
diurnal  tubs  regularly,  have  their  boots  "cleaned"  and  go  to  work 
every  morning  in  tennis  flannel  suits,  with  trousers  carefully  turned 
up  at  the  bottom.  Yet,  with  all  this,  the  mine  pays,  and  it  stands 
perhaps  as  a  solitary  instance  where  continued  mismanagement 
has  failed  to  wTeck  a  property  of  this  kind. 

Well,  I  must  finish  the  mining-  dissertation  later  on.  The  Cali- 
fornia mine  and  w^orks  are  now  closed  dow^n  tight.  All  the  Mex- 
ican population  has  departed  for  San  Dimas,  where  during  the 
holy  week  the  mescal  will  circulate  merrily  for  social  entertain- 
ment and  the  greater  glory  of  God.  So  we  gringos  have  an  un- 
sought holiday  on  our  hands  and  tomorrow  set  out  for  a  grand 
eight  days'  hunting  trip.  We  are  going  to  one  of  the  wildest  and 
most  unfrequented  sections  of  the  Sierra,  where  bear,  tigers,  wald 
boars  and  deer  abound,  where  wild  turkeys  are  thicker  than  chip- 
pies in  California,  and  a  large  and  gamey  trout  haunts  the 
mountain  streams.  There  will  be  four  gringos  in  the  party, 
Senores  Don  Tomas  Tompkins,  Don  Francisco  Mosely,  Don 
Enrique  Wilkins  and  Don  Santiago  del  mismo  nombre,  also  John- 
ny-on-the-spot and  several  fellow  Chileros.     I  give  the  names,  as 


70  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

this  expedition  is  likely  to  prove  famous,  for  if  I  fail  to  make 
Teddy  Roosevelt  look  like  a  ten-cent  piece  when  I  write  up  the 
story  of  it  then  this  pen  will  have  lost  its  cunning. 

Wonder  how  much  some  of  the  San  Francisco  sports  would 
give  to  be  with  our  crowd? 

California  Aline,  State  of  Durango,  Mexico,  April  2,  1901. 


EIGHTH     LETTER 


HAVE  attempted  to  convey  some  idea 
of  mining  in  ^lexico  in  a  general  way. 
To  pnt  the  situation  more  exactly,  I 
will  enumerate  briefly  the  reasons  why 
this  country  ought  to  command  the 
attention  of  mining  men  the  world 
over.  First  and  foremost,  because  the 
real  thing  is  here.  I  have  already 
given  an  idea  of  the  enormous  produc- 
tion of  past  ages  and  the  great  revival 
of  the  industry  within  recent  years.  Yet  I  am  not  giving  my  own 
valueless  opinion,  but  the  mature  judgment  of  every  capable  min- 
ing expert  who  lias  visited  Mexico,  when  I  say  that  the  surface 
has  barely  been  scratched,  that  there  are  still  countless  prizes  to 
reward  the  prospector's  enterprise,  and  that  when  capital  finally 
directs  its  magic  influence  this  way  in  earnest,  the  land  of  the 
^lontezumas  will  become,  once  more,  by  far  the  greatest  contrib- 
utor to  the  ever  increasing  demand  of  civilization  for  the  precious 
metals. 

But  gold  and  silver  do  not  by  any  means  constitute  the  only 
great  mineral  resources  of  Mexico,  although  until  very  recent 
years  they  have  been  the  sole  objects  of  the  miner's  quest.  Out- 
side of  these,  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  country  is  enormous,  but 
still  almost  entirely  undeveloped.  Some  inquiry  has  been  made 
for  copper  properties,  since  the  great  advance  in  the  price  of  that 
metal,  and  agents  of  foreign  capitalists  are  busily  examining  prop- 


72 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


ositions  of  this  kind.     One  mine,  the  Santa  Rosaha,  located  on 
the  Gulf  of  California,  is  now  rivaling  the  great  producers  of  our 


^ 


Constructing  a  Pipe   Line  for  Power.     Mouth  of  Tunnel  and  Settling 

Tank. 

time.  It  is  owned  by  a  French  company,  and  during  the  year  1900 
is  said  to  have  paid  dividends  amounting  to  forty  million  francs 
(about  $7,200,000).'  Large  plants  are  being  installed  at  many 
other  localities  and  Mexico  will  soon  take  a  foremost  place  in  the 
copper  industry. 

Some  of  the  most  remarkable  iron  deposits  of  the  earth  are 
found  in  Mexico  and  remain  as  a  rule  to  this  day  untouched  by 
man,  and  in  most  cases,  not  even  under  private  ownership.     The 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD      MEXICO 


73 


Iron  ^Mountain,  a  mile  or  so  from  the  City  of  Durango,  is  a  large 
hill,  one  solid  mass  of  nearly  eighty  per  cent,  iron  ore.  Aside 
from  the  enormous  amount  of  metal  visible,  it  has  also  been  as- 
certained that  it  extends  to  a  great  depth  beneath  the  surface,  the 
whole  constituting  what  is,  humanely  speaking,  an  inexhaustible 


T'or struct: np  a  Power  Line.     A  Mexican   Trestle. 

deposit.  The  story  goes  that  when  the  late  Mr.  C.  P.  Huntington 
extended  his  railroad  system  to  Durango,  it  was  largely  because 
of  the  traffic  possibilities  presented  b\'  this  marvelous  property, 
and  it  is  said  that  he  was  negotiating  for  its  purchase  when  the 


74  A    GLIMI'BE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

liand  of  death  checked  his  busy  brain  forever.  I  have  been  reli- 
ably informed  that  there  is  a  still  larger  iron  monntain  in  South- 
ern ]\Iexico.  and  countless  others  of  minor  importance  which,  in 
the  fullness  of  time,  will  be  developed  profitably. 

It  is  known  that  extensive  coal  fields  exist  in  many  parts  of 
Mexico,  but  scarcely  an  effort  has  been  made  to  uncover  them.  A 
noted  mining  expert  informed  me  that  probably  the  largest  an- 
thracite bed  in  the  world  was  in  a  remote,  and  at  present  inaccess- 
ible, section  of  the  State  of  Sonora.  It  is  likewise  known  that 
there  are  coal  veins  in  the  country  drained  by  the  Yaqui  and 
Fuerte  Rivers.  In  many  places,  there  are  strong  indications  of 
petroleum,  and  beyond  all  question,  important  oil  districts  will 
soon  be  discovered.  But  so  far  as  the  latter  industry  is  concerned, 
it  is  substantially  unexplored. 

Zinc  and  lead  deposits  are  numerous,  but  neglected.  The 
former  has  been  overlooked  entirely  and  the  latter  worked  only 
as  a  bi-product  in  the  treatment  of  the  precious  metal  ores. 
Other  forms  of  mineral  wealth  occur,  that  need  not  be  enumerated 
here,  that  remain  unnoticed.  The  miner's  research  has  extended 
only  to  the  precious  metals,  and  in  a  smaller  way  to  copper.  Out- 
side of  these,  the  field  is  practically  a  virgin  one,  that  will  repay 
richly  those  who  have  the  energy  and  capital  to  exploit  it  scien- 
tifically and  systematically. 

Another  ad^'antag■e  that  the  miner  enjoys  here  is  the  remark- 
able liberality  of  the  laws  relating  to  his  occupation.  He  is  re- 
garded as  an  individual  who  deserves  special  encouragement,  for 
his  enterprise  gives  employment  to  hundreds  of  thousands  and  in- 
jures no  one.  I  have  already  referred  to  the  very  lenient  svstem 
of  taxa'tiori."  Another  immense  item  is  the  fact,  that  the  entire  area 
of  Mexico  is  open  to  exploration,  except  within  the  limits  of 
pueblos  or  towns  and  on  territory  used  for  governmental  pur- 
poses. Ownership  of  the  surface  of  land  does  not  carry  with  it 
title  to  the  mineral  wealth  below  and  anyone  who  discovers  a  de- 
posit of  mineral  has  the  absolute  right  to  denounce  or  file  on  it 
and  carry  on  his  mining  operations,  no  matter  who  holds  the  title 
deeds  to  the  top  of  the  ground.  He  can  also  denounce  an 
hacienda,  or  mill  site,  and  whatever  more  mav  be  neces-sarv  to  con- 


A      GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


75 


duct  his  business  to  the  best  advantage.  If  he  needs  wood  or 
water,  no  grasping  landlord  can  extort  an  exorbitant  price  for 
these  prime  necessities.  If  the  miner  and  the  landlord  cannot 
agree  on  terms,  the  former  notifies  the  latter  that  he  has  appointed 
Senor to  represent  him  in  fixing  rates.     In  eight  days,  the 


Constructirg  a  Power  Line.     A  Native  Retaining  Wall. 

land  owner  must  nominate  a  like  representative.  These  two,, 
with  the  local  Judge  of  the  h^irst  Instance  (Superior  Judge),  form 
a  board  of  arbitration,  which  must  convene,  consider  the  case  and 
render  a  decision  within  eight  days,  fixing  legally  the  prices  that 
may  be  charged.  An  appeal  lies  from  this  decision,  but  in  the 
meanwhile  the  nn'ncr  can  go  ahead  and  take  wood  and  water  at 


76  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

the  figTires  named  by  the  arbitrators.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  these 
decisions  are  scarcely  ever  appealed  from,  nor  is  it  even  necessary 
often  to  have  recourse  to  boards  of  arbitration.  The  miner's  rem- 
edy being  speedy  and  decisive,  arrangements  are  usually  made 
without  serious  friction  on  either  side ;  and  it  may  be  said  here 
that  a  little  of  this  summary  way  of  dealing  out  justice  might  be 
copied  in  the  United  States  to  the  general  advantage  of  litigants. 
In  other  words,  the  miner  here  holds  the  top  hand  at  all  stages 
of  the  game.  In  California,  after  he  finds  a  mine,  as  like  as  not  it 
will  be  rendered  valueless  because  some  unconscionable  fellow 
owns  the  only  accessible  water  and  timber  and  will  not  allow  him 
the  use  of  these  essentials  except  on  terms  that  are  practically  pro- 
hibitive. Again,  exploration  in  our  State  is  practically  limited  to 
the  public  domain,  constantly  lessening  in  area,  for  it  is  small  com- 
fort to  find  a  mine  on  another  man's  land  and  receive  only  his 
thanks  for  your  trouble. 

Then  -you  have  a  very  efficient,  cheap  and  contented  class  of 
laborers  to  deal  with.  The  Mexican  miner  is  industrious  to  the 
backbone,  is  native  born  to  his  trade,  for  his  forefathers  have 
worked  in  the  same  groove  for  generations,  and  he  is  perfectly 
satisfied  with  his  lot.  There  are  no  unions,  walking  delegates  or 
strikes  or  friction  between  employer  and  employe,  providing  the 
former  treats  his  men  half-way  decent.  He  must  pay  them 
promptly,  have  some  regard  for  life  and  limb  about  his  works  and 
not  attempt  to  overreach  them  too  outrageously  in  general  mat- 
ters of  business.  \Mien  these  plain  conditions  are  disregarded, 
there  is  trouble  of  the  passive  kind  and  lots  of  it.  That  is,  when  a 
mine  once  gets  a  bad  name  by  reason  of  ill-treatment  of  its  em- 
ployes, you  might  as  well  try  to  move  the  Sierra  Madre  as  induce 
a  Mexican  to  work  in  it.  Valuable  properties  have  been  com- 
pelled to  close  their  works,  and  keep  them  closed  through  the 
folly  of  their  management  in  dealing  with  their  men.  But  accord 
them  fair  treatment  and  they  are  as  easy  a  lot  to  get  along  with  as 
I  ever  met.  The  general  scale  of  wages  here  is  about  half  that  in 
the  United  States,  payable  in  Mexican  money.  The  cost  of  living, 
however,  is  about  correspondingly  less.  The  Mexican  miner 
•could  lav  bv  a  tidv  sum  as^ainst  a  rainv  dav  if  he  wanted  to,  but  he 


A     GLIMPi^E     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


IT 


doesn't.  ]\Iost  of  his  income  passes  down  the  ahmentary  canals 
of  himself  and  family, althou2"h  he  is  bv  no  means  averse  to  fine 
raiment,  if  there  is  any  balance  after  the  grub  bill  is  liquidated. 
In  one  matter  of  extravagance,  things  are  reversed  in  Mexico. 
The  gringo's  nose  is  held  rather  steadily  at  the  grindstone  to  keep 
his  females  in  headgear.     Here  the  women  wear  neither  hat  nor 


^■^>™»s»-Nn„ 


Const'  iicling  a  Power  Line.     A  Tougii  Stretch. 


bonnet,  but  the  vanity  of  the  men  in  this  direction  is  inordinate 
and  limitless.  To  own  a  swell  sombrero  is  the  crowning  ambition 
of  a  Mexican's  life.  These  sombreros  are  gorgeous  affairs,  cost- 
ing from  fifteen  dollars  up  into  the  luuidreds,  and  it  is  astonishing 


78  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

to  see  the  kind  of  people  who  acquire  property  rights  in  extremely 
fine  ones.  This  weakness  is  worked  on  with  deadlv  effect  in  the 
stores.  When  a  Mexican  with  a  shabby  tile  enters,  a  salesman 
invariably  requests  the  privilege  of  trying  an  expensive  sombrero 
on  him.  Then,  if  he  can  be  induced  to  look  at  himself  in  the 
glass,  his  doom  is  sealed.  He  will  make  any  sacrifice,  discount  the 
future  and  tie  himself  up  in  all  sorts  of  financial  knots  to  own  that 
hat.  Therefore,  it  frequently  happens  that  you  will  see  a  Mexican 
strutting  proudly  along  under  a  hundred  dollar  hat,  the  balance  of 
whose  raiment  would  be  dear  at  six  bits. 

I  can  merely  enumerate  briefly  a  few  of  the  remaining  condi- 
tions favorable  to  the  mining  industry,  and  I  refer  here  only  to 
the  States  of  Durango  and  Sinaloa.  so  far  as  I  am  familiar  with 
them.  The  ores  are  generally  of  a  free  milling  character,  yielding 
to  the  cheap  processes  of  amalgamation  and  cyanide.  Wood  and 
water,  those  prime  necessities,  are  plentiful  and  as  a  rule  easily  ac- 
cessible. Lastly,  the  walls  of  ledges  are  generally  so  hard  and  dur- 
able that  they  will  stand  without  timbering,  which  in  many  locali- 
ties entails  an  enormous  bill  of  expenses. 

Then,  it  is  only  fair  to  give  the  other  side,  for  there  are  certainly 
some  serious  drawbacks  to  mining  in  Mexico.  The  principal  and 
perhaps  only  grave  one  is  the  matter  of  transporting  heavy  mach- 
inery and  supplies.  I  have  been  here  six  weeks  assisting  as  best  I 
might  in  the  construction  of  the  California  Mining  Company's 
mill  and  can  write  on  this  subject  with  the  profound  emotion  of 
personal  experience.  INIan  can  engage  in  no  more  heartbreaking 
job.  The  trails  in  this  section,  leading  from  the  seaboard,  are  so 
bad  that  the  worst  in  our  country  look  like  speed  tracks  by  com- 
parison. They  traverse  arroyos  littered  with  rocks  as  big  as  a 
church,  skirt  chasms  and  precipices  that  make  your  hair  lift  when 
you  look  down,  and  cross  mountain  ranges  ten  thousand  feet 
high  by  grades  almost  as  .steep  as  going  up  a  chimnev.  When  it 
comes  to  packing  several  hundred  tons  of  machinery  and  supplies 
over  such  a  route,  perhaps  you  can  gather  some  idea  of  the  under- 
taking, and  perhaps  you  can  not.  The  trails  are  only  open  seven 
months  in  the  year,  for  during  the  rainy  season  they  are  impass- 
able, and  in  that  period  you  must  somehow  get  your  luggage  into 


A     GLIMrSE     OF     OLD     .MEXICO 


79 


camp.  You  are  absolutely  dependent  on  the  mule  for  motive 
power  and  the  mule  is  dependent  on  the  muleteer,  who  is  a  mighty 
irresponsible  fellow.  He  leaves  ]\Iazatlan  with  your  freight  all 
right  enough,  but  when  he  will  reach  his  place  of  destination  is 
another  thing.  He  loathes  to  handle  machinery  at  any  price  and 
if  he  chances  to  hear  of  desirable  freight  at  some  other  point,  he 
Avill  drop  your  cargo  by  the  way.  run  oft'  after  the  other  stuff  and 
return  to  your  in\-oice  when  he  gets  good  and  ready.     \\'hen  T 


A  Ale.\ieaii  Trail.     Tho  Best  I  riaw  iii  tlu  Country. 

came  from  Mazatlan.  I  found  parts    of    the    California  mill  and 
power  pipe  line  adorning  the  trail  from  the  first  stopping  place 


80  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

• 

to  the  mine,  and  it  has  only  been  by  dint  of  superhuman  exertion 
and  powerful  official  influence  that  we  have  finally  succeeded  in 
getting  things  pretty  much  in  shape.  Then,  what  you  want  first, 
always  comes  last,  and  you  have  to  hold  down  the  safety  valves 
of  your  temper  while  train  after  train  winds  into  camp  with  loads 
of  material  that  you  cannot  possibly  go  to  work  on  till  something 
else  arrives.  All  this  entails  endless  vexation  and  expense,  but 
in  the  nature  of  things,  it  is  only  temporary.  Finally  your  plant 
is  all  together  and  in  operation,  after  which  your  serious  troubles 
are  at  an  end. 

But,  even  if  there  are  some  drawbacks  here,  Mexico  is  all 
right  and  will  soon  regain  its  reputation  as  the  world's  greatest 
mining  country.  If  the  money  wasted  on  fool  projects  at  Nome 
last  year  had  been  diverted  our  way,  it  would  have  developed  by 
this  time  the  boom  of  the  age. 

I  cannot  tell  you  about  our  great  hunting  and  fishing  trip  into 
the  high  Sierra  Madre  further  than  to  remark  that  it  was  a  James 
Dandy,  only  we  almost  froze  to  death  every  night.  We  got  right 
into  the  heart  of  the  bear,  deer,  wild  turkey  and  trout  region, 
and  if  we  didn't  have  fun  to  the  filling  of  our  bellies,  then  my 
ilame  is  something  else.  But  this  subject  deserves  a  letter  by  it- 
self.    Hasta  la  vista. 

California  Mine,  State  of  Durango,  Mexico,  April  13,  1901. 


NINTH     LETTER 


FTER  you  have  jogged  along 
through  hfe  beyond  the  turning 
of  the  ways  and  watched  the 
milestones  marking  the  thirties 
and  most  of  the  forties  speed 
swiftly  by,  did  it  ever  oc- 
cur to  you  what  it  would 
mean  to  feel  like  a  boy  again, 
be     it     for     ever     so     short     a 

iSiim:im.:-,im^  'IT,?       f^*^'     'f"     I     consider 

childhood  the  happiest  part  ot 
human  existence  by  considerable,  for  it  is  full  of  its  own  troubles, 
big  and  small.  It  is  a  period  of  dependence  and  of  restraint  that 
are  felt  then  far  more  than  we  realize  in  after  years.  If  you  doubt 
that  statement,  think  of  the  kid  who  has  to  march  off  to  a  dingy- 
school  on  some  glorious  spring  morning,  while  his  little  heart  is 
full  of  birds  and  woods  and  flowers  and  all  the  inspirations  of  the 
season.  Recall,  as  you  proliably  can,  how  your  very  soul  used  to 
revolt  against  acts  of  tyranny,  perhaps  imaginary  and  perhaps 
not.  for  a  boy  does  not  always  have  a  square  deal.  Remember 
how  you  ha\e  laid  awake  at  nights  and  dreaiued  of  tlie  time  when 
you  would  be  l)ig  and  istrong  enough  to  lick  the  school  teacher 
who  had  just  disci])]ine(l  you.  Then  consider,  as  your  half-for- 
gotten experience  will  doubtless  enable  you  to  do,  what  a  tough 
lot  boys  are  with  each  other,  how  the  weak  are  set  upon,  how 
merciless  they  are  to  the  sensitive  and  shrinking.     T  held  m\'  own 


82 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


fairly  well  with  my  early  contemporaries,  yet  I  never  can  for- 
get one  day,  almost  forty  years  ago,  when  I  went  to  school  in  a 
Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  suit  of  black  velvet  and  the  jibes  and 
jeers  I  suffered  with  a  breaking  heart  on  that  occasion  from  a  lot 
of  young  demons,  before  I  returned  home  and  took  that  suit  off, 
never  to  be  worn  again.  No,  if  you  think  it  over  dispassionately, 
childhood  is  not  all  that  it  is  cracked  up  to  be,  even  when  your 
lives  are  cast  in  pleasant  places.     Nor  is  early  youth  altogether 


Mountain  Scenery.     Sierra  Madre. 


the  idyllyic  age  that  the  poets  assure  us  it  is.     The  romping  and 
flirting  with  the  girls  is  all  well  enough  but  that  is  only  an  inci- 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  83 

dent.  The  average  young  man  who  is  suddenly  thrust  into  the 
world  to  make  his  own  way  is  of  all  created  things  the  most 
helpless.  He  realizes  it  so  thoroughly  that  many  a  poor  fellow 
gives  up  the  struggle  in  sheer  despair  and  falls  by  the  wayside. 
He  must  endure  the  snubs  of  his  elders  who  never  seem  to  recol- 
lect that  they  too  were  once  raw  beginners,  be  thankful  for  a  beg- 
garly income  that  will  not  permit  of  the  legitimate  pleasures  he 
longs  for  and  through  it  all  see  no  certain  rift  in  the  clouds  that 
darken  his  destiny. 

I  have  been  through  it  all  and  at  this  stage  of  the  journey,  as  I 
compare  the  present  with  the  past,  I  can  say  without  a  moment's 
hesitation,  give  me  comfortable  middle  age,  every  time.  When 
you  have  hewed  out  a  secure  place  in  the  world  for  yourself, 
have  outgrown  the  sordid  cares  of  keeping  the  wolf  from  the  door 
and  making  both  ends  meet,  when  you  are  able  to  look  on  things 
like  a  philosopher  with  a  mind  broadened  by  experience,  when 
you  can  go  home  to  a  happy  family  at  night  and  withal  still  en- 
joy health,  strength  and  faculties  unimpaired,  then  I  am  very  sure 
that  man  is  at  the  time  when  life  means  more  for  him  thaii  ^ny 
other.  The  only  trouble  is  that  the  colors  of  middle  age  are  not 
fast.  They  begin  to  fade  altogether  too  soon,  almost  as  soon.a^ 
you  begin  to  learn  how  rich  and  strong  they  are.  ,  -  •  '  '  • 

But  for  all  that  there  is  something  about  boyhood  that  few  of 
us  forget  in  later  years — it  is  then  that  we  feel  the  thrill  of  ex- 
panding life,  the  sense  of  development,  physical  and  intellectual, 
and  the  buoyancy  of  growth.  What  an  intense  appetitite  for  fun 
we  used  to  have  when  it  came  our  way  and  how  short  the  days 
used  to  iseem.  How  easily  sleep  came  to  us  \\%h  the  night  and  it 
wasn't  any  trouble  to  get  out  of  bed  in  the  morning,  even  if  the 
frost  was  on  the  lawn.  Yes,  that  marvelous  exhilaration  of, youth 
and  untiring  energy,  we  remember  only  too  well  as  we  start 
down  the  long  toboggan  amid  the  lengthening  shadows  and  when 
we  recall  them  in  fancy,  a  sigh  comes  surging  up  from  the  depths; 
laden  with  the  refrain,  "Would  I  were  a  boy  again." 

I  have  made  that  reflection  once  or  twice  and  behold !  the  wish 
has  been  realized.  1  am  forty-seven  years  old  and  past  but  for 
eight  days  I  have  been  a  boy  once  more,  just  as  sure  as  two  and 


84 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


three  make  six.  And  there  wasn't  any  fairy  god-mother  work 
about  it  either :  for  the  matter  of  that  mine  has  probably  l^ecome 
too  aged  and  sedate  to  be  playing  pranks  any  more.  It  was  just 
the  purely  natural  results  of  our  outing  in  the  high  Sierras,  an 
experience  open  to  anyone  who  cares  to  try  it.  In  a  former  letter, 
I  spread  myself  about  the  climate  at  the  California  mine  and  I  do 
not  wish  to  take  back  a  word  of  it  now.  But  the  climate  of  the 
loftv  Mexican  mountains  is  a  veritable  inspiration,  a  thing  "sui 


In    the    IVIexican    Sierra— a    Picturesque    Gorge. 

generis,"  incomparable  and  indescribable.  It  gives  you  the  sen- 
sation of  walking  on  air  and  a  suggestion  that  at  last  you  have 
found  the  object  of  Ponce  de  Leon's  fruitless  quest.     Then  you 


A      GLIMPSE      OF     OLD      MEXICO 


85 


have  tlie  marvelous  and  stupendous  scenery  of  the  Seirras  to  fill 
vour  verv  soul  witli  gladness,  the  exalting  sense  of  perfect  free- 
dom and  last  but  not  least,  a  sportsman's  paradise  to  wander 
through.  I  will  nexer  forget  those  eight  days.  They  brought 
back  the  best  of  boyhood  with  a  rush.  It  did  not  seem  as  though 
fatigue  were  ])ossible  and  every  incident  turned  spontaneously 
into  merriment  and  fun.  just  as  it  used  to  when  school  was  over, 


In  the  Mexican  Sierra — Porpliyry  Buttes. 


long,  long  ago.     A  hundred  dollars    a  minute    ought  to  be  dirt 
cheaj)  to  have  the  clock's  hands  turned  backward  in  this  fashion 


86  A     GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

but  I  intend  to  repeat  the  experiment  at  least  once  a  year  here- 
after at  a  far  less  price. 

We  left  the  California  mine  on  April  3(1,  with  a  well  stocked 
commissary  department,  eight  souls  in  all,  four  gringos  and  four 
Mexicans. '  Mr.  Frank  Moseley  elected  to  stay  by  the  works  and 
an  employe  of  the  Mexican  Gold  and  Silver  Recovery  Company 
took  his  place,  with  the  usual  mozo  attendant.  A  Rurale  hap- 
pened into  camp  the  night  before,  scented  a  good  time  from 
afar  and  joined  our  forces.  His  first  name  was  Manuel — I  never 
inquired  the  balance  of  it — and  a  better  man  for  roughing  it  never 
stood  in  shoe  leather.  We  rode  over  a  lofty  range  in  the  early 
morning,  followed  a  long  ridge  for  several  miles  and  plunged 
down  into  a  vast  and  precipitous  canyon,  known  as  the  Arroyo 
Santa  Barbara.  It  was  a  risky  sort  of  a  descent  here  and  there; 
several  times  we  had  to  dismount  and  help  our  mules  down  by 
the  tail,  a  courtesy  which  the  sagacious  animals  understand  and 
appreciate.  But  at  length  we  emerged  from  our  difficulties  on  a 
beautiful  grassy  meadow  luxuriant  wdth  rich  feed,  through  which 
a  dashing  mountain  stream  ran,  clear  as  crystal  and  cold  as  ice. 
This  secluded  and  almost  inaccessible  valley  was  a  famous  lurk- 
ing place  for  bandits  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  or  less.  The 
ruins  of  their  old  well  built  log  houses  still  stand.  Here,  on  a  car- 
pet of  pine  needles,  we  spread  the  generous  contents  of  our  grub 
box  which  were  attended  to  with  the  gusto  of  a  mountain  appe- 
tite. A  few  minutes  after  we  had  started  for  the  afternoon  ride, 
w^e  had  our  first  experience  with  that  king  of  game  birds,  the 
Mexican  wild  turkey  or  cocano.  We  were  proceeding  in  leisurely 
fashion  through  the  timber  with  the  isilence  that  usually  follows 
a  square  meal  when  one  of  the  Mexicans  in  a  hushed  voice  hissed 
the  word,  "cocanos."  There  they  were,  a  flock  of  probably  fifty 
of  them.  We  had  come  upon  them  by  surprise,  a  rare  thing  in- 
deed, for  the  wild  turkey  is  the  wariest  of  game.  I  had  heard 
about  the  immense  size  and  weight  of  these  birds  but  never  be- 
fore realized  the  truth  of  it  till  I  saw  them  in  a  state  of  nature. 
Why,  the  finest  Christmas  turkey  in  California  would  look  like 
a  squab  alongside  of  one  of  these  mighty  gobblers.  There  was 
one  old  patriarch  in  the  group  that  seemed  nearly  as  tall  as  the 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     :\[EXTCO 


87 


Eiffel  Tower  and  after  seeing  him  I  am  quite  ready  to  admit  that 
the  Mexican  wild  turkey  often  weighs  fifty  pounds.  Well,  if  we 
surprised  them,  they  surprised  us.  Not  a  gun  was  ready  and 
though  we  slid  off  our  mules  and  got  them  out  of  the  scabbards 
with  nervous  haste,  by  the  time  we  had  cleared  the  decks  for  ac- 
tion, the  birds  were  zig-zagging  through  the  timber  with  that 
deceptive  trot  of  theirs.  However,  we  made  a  run  for  it,  endea- 
voring to  come  to  close  range  and  ever  and  anon  blazing  away 


-/S0^,. 


■■  1  .. 


A  Mexican  Faisan. 


at  an  illusive  turkey  in  ilic  \ain  hope  that  a  case  of  nigger  luck 
would  bring  him  down.  I^'ortune  nearly  came  my  way.  My 
nephew  started  in  pursuit  of  the  aforementioned  colossal  gobbler 


88  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

and  turned  it  down  a  long  ridge.  It  occurred  to  me  that  I  could 
make  a  short  cut  and  head  it  off  and  I  proceeded  to  execute  this 
manoeuvre  at  the  imminent  risk  of  chest  foundering,  for  running 
in  these  altitudes  is  rather  hard  on  the  wind.  My  calculations 
\vere  all  right  in  one  w-ay;  for  I  intercepted  the  gobbler  at  close 
range  and  had  I  carried  a  rifle  his  shrift  would  have  been  short. 
Unluckily,  I  was  armed  with  nothing  better  than  a  shotgun.  I 
gave  him  both  barrels  as  he  turned  but  it  seemed  only  to  put  more 
ginger  into  hi.s  heels.  As  I  hung  to  a  tree,  in  a  vain  effort  to  catch 
my  breath  again,  I  watched  him  climb  a  ridge,  reach  the  crest, 
halt  a  moment  to  look  back  and  smile  at  me,  just  a  trifle  sadly,  I 
thought,  and  then  he  was  gone  forever. 

The  truth  might  as  well  be  told.  This  was  our  luck  all  through 
the  outing  so  far  as  turkeys  were  concerned.  We  could  hear 
them  gobbling  and  perhaps  see  a  dozen  or  more  disappearing  like 
ghosts  in  the  timber  but  we  never  had  a  dead  man's  chance  of 
bagging  one.  We  made  our  fatal  mistake  wdien  we  tied  poor  Dewey 
up  before  our  departure.  A  dog  is  absolutely  essential  to  wild 
turkey  hunting.  A  setter  or  pointer  wall  easily  outrun  them  and 
make  they  fly  into  the  trees  and  nothing  else  will  induce  them  to 
take  wing.  Once  in  a  tree,  the  most  astute  and  experienced  gob- 
bler will  pay  no  attention  to  a  hunter  whatever.  His  eyes  and 
thoughts  are  all  fixed  on  the  dog  and  it  is  simply  a  matter  of 
walking  within  range  and  bowling  him  over.  Remember  this  and 
vou  will  never  be  short  of  turkev  in  the  Mexican  mountains. 
Otherwise  my  experience  will  be  yours. 

This  part  of  Mexico  is  particularly  rich  in  its  variety  of  galli- 
naceous game  birds,  their  habitat  being  influenced  more  or  less 
by  altitude.  There  are  at  least  seven  varieties  of  them  within 
the  scope  of  a  day's  hunt  of  our  mine.  First  and  foremost,  there 
is  the  gorgeous  and  imperial  wild  turkey.  Next  in  order  is  the 
faisan,  which  resembles  a  turkey  in  its  long  neck,  throat  wattles 
and  general  make-up  a  good  deal  more  than  a  pheasant,  the 
Spanish  name  for  which  it  bears.  It  weighs  about  twelve  pounds, 
has  a  fine  gamey  flavor,  but  is  the  most  idiotic  of  birds,  appar- 
ently going  out  of  its  way  to  be  killed  and  therefore  gives  the  true 
sportsman   little  joy.      The   cut   herewith   represents  Johnny-on- 


A      (ILIMI'SSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


89 


the-Spot  and  your  hnmhle  servant  supporting  a  recently  slaught- 
ered faisan.  Then  conies  the  queche  or  chachalaca  resembling 
the  faisan  but  much  smaller  and  more  handsomely  plumed,  like- 
wise not  overburdened  with  intellectual  gifts.  I  have  written  of 
the  (jueche   in   a   pre\ious   letter.      There   is   also   a   true   grouse, 


In  the  Mexican  Sierra. 

though  very  rare  in  these  parts,  for  1  haxe  not  seen  o\cr  four  or 
five  specimens.  Two  distinct  and  very  large  kinds  of  mountain 
quail  are  numerous.  These  are  genuine  game  birds,  strong  of 
wing  and  remarkably  puzzling  flyers  when  first  Hushed.  No  ap- 
prentice with  a  shotgun  can  land  them.     Last  of  all  there  is  the 


90  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

valley  quail  similar  to  our  Californian  quail,  but  smaller,  very  game 
and  toothsome  no  end.  These  make  a  royal  collection  for  the 
sportsman  and  the  field  is  likely  to  remain  a  good  one  for  years 
to  come,  as  the  birds  are  absolutely  unmolested  by  the  native  pop- 
ulation. Shotguns  are  unknown  in  these  parts  and  anyhow  the 
average  Mexican  has  the  utmost  contempt  for  the  smaller  game. 
A  deer  is  about  the  smallest  thing  he  cares  to  bother  with. 

But  to  resume,  after  the  turkey  incident,  we  went  climbing  up- 
ward till  we  reached  the  summit  of  a  great  flat  ridge  that  stretched 
out  to  the  eastward,  beautifully  diversified  with  forest  and  open 
glade.  Deer  were  crossing  our  path  every  few  minutes  and  a 
couple  of  them  tried  it  once  too  often.  We  could  have  killed  a 
dozen  just  as  easily  but  we  were  honest  sportsmen  and  had  no  wish 
to  slaughter  wantonly. 

We  found  a  spring  of  sparkling  water  late  in  the  afternoon  and 
went  into  camp.  My  aneroid  informed  me  that  we  were  just  a 
shade  over  iiooo  feet  above  sea  level  and  later  on  when  the  cold 
began  to  pinch  it  would'nt  have  surprised  me  to  learn  that  we  were 
five  miles  up  in  the  air.  I  was  all  right,  for  like  an  old  campaigner 
I  had  brought  enough  blankets  along  to  load  a  mule.  But  how 
those  poor  devils  of  Mexicans  lived  through  the  night  I  never  will 
understand.  They  had  a  serape  apiece,  about  as  thick  as  a  light 
shawl  and  this  is  their  regular  covering  by  night,  whether  they  are 
sojourning  on  the  tropical  coast  land  or  camped  on  the  lofty 
sierra,  where  the  theremometer  gets  down  close  to  the  zero  point 
before  day  break.  On  this  occasion,  they  curled  up  in  their  scrapes 
and  calmy  went  to  sleep  with  half  a  yard  of  leg  sticking  out.  Now 
and  then,  one  of  them  would  mutter  "caramba"  get  up.  stir  the  fire, 
hang  over  it  until  his  clothes  fairly  smoked  and  after  thus  hoisting 
on  board  a  satisfactory  cargo  of  heat,  return  once  more  to  the 
arms  of  Morpheus.  But  even  with  this  adjunct  their  capacity  to 
assimilate  cold  was  wonderful.     I  never  .saw^  the  like  of  it  before. 

AVe  were  up  betimes,  anticipating  the  sun  somewhat  and  eating 
breakfast  with  a  crisp  white  frost  covering  the  ground.  An  hour 
or  so  later,  you  could  hardly  realize  that  it  had  ever  been  cold,  so 
generous  was  the  sunshine,  so  soft  and  balmy  was  the  breeze.  By 
noon  we  were  camped  on  the  banks  of  a  bewilderingly  beautiful 


A      (UJMPSE     OF     OLD      MEXICO 


91 


trout  stream,  ideal  for  the  angler's  craft,  replete  with  waterfalls 
and  long  dark  pools  and  no  underbrush  to  hamper  operations.  I 
had  a  regulation  dude  outfit,  split  bamboo  rod,  tly  book,  reels, 
spoons,  fish  basket,  etc.  and  I  went  to  work  in  scientific  fashion,, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  subjoined  snap  shots.  The  others  cut 
poles  that  looked  like  base  ball  bats,  tied  on  lines  and  hooks  baited 


Catching  My  Biggest  Trout. 

with  grasshoppers  or  grubs  and  if  the  sad  truth  must  be  told,were 
yanking  trout  out  of  the  water  rather  more  rapidly  than  my- 
self.    The  fact  is  the  season  was  not  propitious  for  fiy  fishing.     It 


92 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


was  early  for  the  insect  life  that  later  swarms  the  air  and  the 
speckled  darlings,  dependent  on  food  from  other  sources,  did  not 
rise  enthusiastically.  As  I  did'nt  want  to  be  beaten  at  the  game, 
I  did  a  little  bait  fishing  of  my  own  and  soon  silenced  the  laugh 
that  had  started  at  my  expense. 

The  Mexican  trout  closely  resembles  the  rainbow  variety,  only 


A  Small  But  Well  Stocked  Stream. 


the  markings  are  stronger  and  the  colors  more  vivid.  They  do 
not  grow  to  enormous  proportions  and  a  pound  fish  is  a  very 
large  one  here.  From  six  to  ten  inches  is  about  the  average  of 
the  catch  but  to  my  way  of  thinking  this  is   the   ideal   size.      For 


A      (ILBII'SE      OF     OLD     :MEX1C0  93 

firmness  of  flesh  and  delicacy  of  flavor  they  can  not  be  surpassed 
the  world  over.  Like  the  feathered  tribe,  they  are  practically  un- 
molested by  man.  Several  gringos  from  San  Dimas  come  once- 
a  year  to  fish  in  one  of  the  creeks  in  this  neighborhood  and  catch 
perhaps  a  few  hundred  during  a  stay  of  three  or  four  days,  but  that 
is  about  the  sum  of  human  depredations.  The  stream  we  first 
tackled  had  never  been  fished  before — at  least  an  old  Chilero 
gentleman  residing  in  the  neighborhood  so  informed  me.  He 
claimed  to  have  lived  on  the  creek  for  upwards  of  seventy  years 
and  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  any  angling  there  previous  to  our 
coming. 

These  mountain  fastnesses  have  a  sprinkling  of  population. 
Here  and  there. the  rugged  gorges  broaden  out  into  small  valleys 
with  a  soil  well  suited  to  the  cultivation  of  maize  and  in  these  you. 
will  usually  find  a  family  installed  and  a  pretty  big  one  at  that. 
Here  are  the  breeding  grounds  of  the  Chileros,  those  hardy 
mountaineers  who  descend  periodically  to  the  lower  levels  and 
astonish  the  onlookers  with  their  strength,  activity  and  willingness 
to  work.  A  finer  race  physically  it  would  be  hard  to  find.  Instead 
of  the  sallow  complexion  prevalent  among  the  lower  classes  of 
Mexico,  the  red  blood  tinges  their  cheeks  in  a  way  very  agreeable 
to  look  upon,  especially  when  the  object  is  one  of  the  gentler  sex. 
Among  the  women.  I  saw  some  of  the  finest  complexions  it  has 
ever  been  my  pleasure  to  behold,  \\liile  not  very  tall,  they  are 
superbl}'  proportioned  and  have  an  unusual  chest  development, 
that  T  take  is  due  to  the  natural  enlargement  of  the  lungs  to  com- 
pensate for  the  attenuated  atmosyjhere  in  these  high  attitudes.  At 
all  events,  thev  suffer  no  inconvenience  of  breathing  under  heavy 
exertions  and  climb  the  steepest  hills  like  goats  where  an  ordinary 
lowlander  would  have  to  take  a  rest  every  ten  steps. 

Their  habits  of  life  are  simplicity  itself.  They  know  nothing 
abom  intoxicants,  use  tobacco  sparingly,  if  at  all,  and  corn, 
worked  up  into  tortillas,  comprises  about  four-fifths  of  their  diet. 
They  are  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  luxuries  of  civilization  and 
likewise  of  the  penalties  they  entail.  The  long  array  of  physical 
afflictions  that  hover  over  crowded  centers  and  stand  continually 
like  horrible  sjiecters  to  fill  us  with  a  haunting  dread,  find  no  abid- 


•94  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

ing  place  in  these  mountains.  Consumption,  cancer  and  the  whole 
group  of  germ  diseases  are  unheard  of,  except  through  passing 
tradition  from  the  outside  world.  Smallpox,  indeed,  occasionally 
makes  an  inroad  but  that  is  all  they  have  to  fear  and  its  ravages 
are  not  very  fatal.  They  take  it  like  philosphers  when  it  comes, 
liouse  themselves  and  simply  permit  the  disease  to  run  its 
course,  which  it  usually  does  in  a  satisfactory  way.  I  saw  a  family 
■of  about  a  dozen,  some  of  whom  bore  honorable  scars  of  a  recent 
set-to  with  the  dreaded  scourage,  and  was  informed  that  every 
member  had  been  down  with  it  at  the  same  time  a  couple  of  years 
before.  All  of  them  pulled  through,  however,  and  barring  the 
scars,  which  were  not  very  pronounced,  were  none  the  worse  for 
the  experience.  The  special  senses  seem  to  be  preserved  to  a 
great  age.  It  is  the  commonest  thing  to  see  an  aged  man  or 
woman  with  keen  eyes,  ears  that  catch  every  sound  and  last  but 
not  least,  with  teeth  as  flawless  as  in  the  days  of  childhood.  Those 
who  have  suffered  the  agonies  of  the  damned  from  morbid  molars 
can  best  appreciate  what  that  means. 

Their  life  is  not  very  eventful.  The  appearance  of  our  cavalcade 
made  them  perfectly  idiotic  with  delight  and  their  simple  hospi- 
tality was  wide  open.  Doubtkss  the  story  of  our  visit  will  be 
handed  down  to  posterity  as  a  noteworthy  incident  of  local  history 
and  later  generations  will  hear  of  the  wonderful  strangers  who 
killed  birds  flying,  a  feat  that  never  failed  to  excite  astonishment, 
and  who  practiced  a  strange  art  that  induced  fish  to  leave  the 
water  on  the  end  of  a  string.  But  do  not  fall  into  the  error  of 
imagining  that  these  people  are  to  be  pitied.  When  I  think  of 
their  abounding  health  and  buoyant  spirits, their  long  lives  with- 
out ache  or  pain,  even  as  old  age  comes  gently  on  and  then  re- 
member the  wan  faces  and  bent  forms  only  too  familiar  in  the 
haunts  of  civilized  man :  the  gouts,  dyspepsias  and  torpid  livers, 
the  wearinesses  and  lassitudes  of  our  abnormal  existence  and  the 
pills,  tonics,  castor  oil  and  cocktails  with  which  we  vainly  endeavor 
to  brace  up  exhausted  nature  and  stand  off  the  inevitable,  then  I 
am  more  than  half  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  Chilero  gentle- 
man has  distinctlythe  best  of  the  game  even  if  he  lives  in  a  shack 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  95 

and  misses  the  French  dinners,  tailor  made  clothes,  automobiles 
and  swell  mansions  that  we  enjoy. 

And  thus  our  eight  days  in  the  mountains  slipped  swiftly  by.  I 
promised  to  thrill  you  with  blood-curdling  descriptions  of  my  ad- 
ventures with  the  savage  tenants  of  the  wilderness  and  had  I  once 
started  on  that  tack  my  readers  would  still  be  trembling  with  ex- 
citement, for  my  invariable  rule  is  never  to  spoil  a  good  story  for 
want  of  facts.  But  the  truth  is,  we  had  no  experiences  of  the  ex- 
citing order.  There  is  no  end  of  big  game  in  the  mountains  such 
as  lions,  bears,  leopards  and  wild  boars,  but  you  never  see  them 
unless  you  have  dogs  to  drive  them  from  their  haunts,  So  if  a 
chronicle  of  every  day  was  furnished,  one  would  be  pretty  much 
the  same  as  the  other  but  each  was  brimful  of  hearty  enjoyment, 
without  an  unpleasant  incident  to  mar  the  whole.  Hunting,  fish- 
ing, good  fellowship  and  the  brisk  air  of  the  mountains  are  enough 
to  make  any  rational  man  take  a  cheerful  view  of  existence  and 
when  I  said  I  felt  a  boy  again  all  over,  I  did  not  stretch  matters 
a  bit. 

We  took  about  sixty  views  of  camp  life,  mountain  scenery  and 
of  the  Chileros  and  their  abodes.  Sad  to  relate,  all  but  five  or  six 
proved  failures.  The  intense  light  and  odd  atmospheric  con- 
ditions are  apt  to  play  the  mischief  with  amateur  photography  in 
Mexico  as  I  have  found  more  than  once  to  my  sorrow.  In  this, 
instance,  I  regret  the  loss  particulary  for  our  work  related  to  a 
region  upon  which  no  camera  had  been  directed  before. 

California  ]\Iine.  State  of  Durango,  Mexico,  April  i8,  1901. 


TENTH     LETTER 


N  outline  is  all  I  have  been  able  to 
give  in  preceding  letters  of  the 
great  mining  industry  of  Mexico, 
of  its  impressive  past,  prosperous 
present  and  the  limitless  possibil- 
ities ahead  when  capital  and  enter- 
prise unite  in  developing  its  miner- 
al wealth.  But  not  alone  in  that 
direction  is  the  future  bright  with 
promise.      Mexico    is    enormously 

rich  in  agricultural  resources,  which  for  the  most  part  are  still  in 
the  latent  state.  In  certain  sections,  some  attempt  has  been  made 
to  cultivate  the  soil  according  to  modern  methods,  but  as  far  as 
my  observation  has  extended,  husbandry  is  still  in  a  most  primitive 
condition.  Improved  agricultural  machinery  is  practically  un- 
known. The  earth  is  still  broken  with  a  wooden  plow,  the  crops 
harvested  with  a  machete,  the  corn  shelled  bv  hand  and  the  chaff 
separated  by  the  breezes.  In  one  particular  only  do  the  rancheros 
display  any  marked  capacity  in  their  work — in  the  curious  art  and 
vast  industry  devoted  to  the  construction  of  irrigating  ditches. 
As  might  be  expected  under  these  conditions,  agriculture  is  any- 
thing but  varied.     Two  or  three  staples  comprise  almost  the  entire 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


97 


list.  I  think  that  about  three-fourths  of  the  energies  of  the  farmer 
class  are  devoted  to  raising  corn  and  beans,  the  mainstays  of  life 
in  Mexico.  Cattle  raising  is  also  an  important  pursuit,  and  one 
of  the  few  that  is  pushing  ahead  rapidly  at  present.  Of  course,  in 
additon  to  the  above,  tobacco  culture,  sugar,  coffee  and  choco- 
late growing  are  carried  on  in   specially   favored   localities   on   a 


Near  the  Crest  of  the  Sierra. 

more  or  less  extensive  scale.  Sugar  production,  in  particular  is 
coming  rapidly  to  the  front  and  the  apparently  authentic  figures 
they  give  you  of  the  profits  of  certain  haciendas,  fairly  make  the 
head  dizzy.  But  the  diversities  of  agriculture,  such  as  we  are 
familiar  with  in  the  United  States,  are  not  found  here  on  an  ap- 


98  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

preciable  scale,  and  some  branches  are  unknown  altogether.  For 
instance,  I  might  mention  one  of  special  local  interest — that  of 
dairying — -so  far  as  butter  making  is  concerned.  No  butter,  to 
the  best  of  my  knowledge,  is  produced  in  commercial  quantities 
in  Mexico.  In  my  travels,  I  have  never  seen  an  ounce  of  the 
native  product.  All  of  it  comes  from  Sweden  in  tins  of  from  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  up.  An  ocean  of  this  stuff  is  used,  although 
it  is  a  terrible  poor  substitute  for  the  fresh  article,  and  sells  at  the 
dizzy  price  of  $1.50  per  pound,  silver,  or  about  eighty  cents  of  our 
money.  Now,  while  the  country  on  the  west  coast  of  Mexico,  say 
for  a  hundred  miles  back,  is  not  adapted  to  dairying,  when  you 
climb  into  the  mountains  you  find  the  conditions  admirably  suited. 
When  hunting  in  the  high  Sierra  some  weeks  ago,  I  saw  thous- 
ands of  acres  of  the  finest  dairy  land,  great  stretches  of  grass  land, 
green  the  year  round,  and  abundant  water,  coupled  with  cool  and 
bracing  climate.  I  should  rate  it  at  least  equal  to  the  best  dairy 
ranches  in  Marin  Countv.  California.  The  native  cows  are  of  little 
value  as  milkers,  but  if  some  fellow  had  the  enterprise  to  bring  a 
graded  herd  of  American  cows  into  this  section  and  set  up  in  the 
dairy  business,  I  have  not  a  doubt  that  he  would  make  his  ever- 
lastig  fortune  in  no  time.  These  mountain  ranges  are  still,  in 
many  instances,  part  of  the  public  domain,  and  where  under  pri- 
vate ownerhip,  can  be  purchased  at  almost  nominal  prices.  I 
am  now  treating  for  one  of  them  myself — a  small  affair  of  13,000 
acres — which  took  my  fancy,  primarily  because  it  is  the  finest 
stretch  of  country  for  the  sportsman  that  I  ever  saw.  I  verily  be- 
lieve that  there  are  more  tons  of  game  and  trout  on  that  one  ranch 
than  in  the  counties  of  Marin,  Sonoma  and  Mendocino  combined. 
If  I  acquire  it,  I  will  give  my  California  friends  a  permit  to  hunt 
there  when  they  visit  Mexico,  but  bags  of  wild  turkeys  will  be 
limited  strictly  to  twenty-five.  But  as  soon  as  I  make  a  good  raise 
in  the  mines,  I  intend  to  take  up  the  dairy  proposition  on  this 
ranch,  if  no  one  gets  in  ahead  of  me,  and  see  just  what  is  in  it. 

I  have  referred  to  dairying  simply  as  an  example  of  dormant 
possibilites.  How  wide  the  range  of  these  may  be,  I  am  not  in  a 
position  to  state.  But  it  goes  without  saying  that  a  country  that 
presents  every  diversity  of  climate  from  tropical  to  north  temper- 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  99 

ate,  through  variations  of  altitude,  that  possesses  a  fertile  soil  and 
a  fairly  industrious  rural  population,  is  still    in  its  agricultural  in- 
fancy when  it  has  progressed  no  further  than  Mexico  has  today. 
It  is  now  doing  little  better  than  supplying  the  wants  of  its  own 
people.     In  many  directions  it  is  not  even  doing  that.     Whereas, 
if  its  resources  were  properly  exploited,  it  would  be  sending  its 
wealth  by  hundreds  of  ships  to  feed  the  hungry  of  other  lands,  just 
as  the  sister  republic  to  the  north  is  doing.     That  there  is  sure  to 
be  an  immense  boom  in  agriculture  here  seems  to  me  one  of  the 
most  certain  things  in  this  shifting  world,  and  that  the  millions  of 
acres  now  lying  idle  and  tenantless  will  soon  be  dedicated  to  their 
proper  uses.     Therefore,  I  cannot  imagine  an  investment  more 
sure  to  yield  a  rich  return  in  the  future  than  the  purchase  of  real 
property  in  ]\Iexico,  in  those  sections  where  it  can  be  had  pretty 
much  at  the  buyer's  figures.     The  conditions  are  very  much  the 
same  as  in  California  in  1849,  ^vhen  ranchos  were  transferred  for 
a  few  hundred  dollars  that  are  worth  millions  today.    And  we  have 
here  what  we  did  not  have  there — an  abundance  of  effective  labor 
to  develop  our  opportunities.     I  have  spoken  well  of  the  character 
of  the  Mexican  miner.     The  Mexican  husbandman  is  in  most  re- 
spects his  equal.     The  industrial  curse  of  this  country,  which  once 
stood  steadfastly  in  the  way  of  its  progress  and  gave  it  the  title  of 
the  land  of  manana,  was  the    eternal    observance    of   saints'    day. 
Less  than  twenty  years  ago,  I  am  informed  that  there  were  only 
one  hundred  and  sixty-one  days  per  annum  when  it  was  permiss- 
ible for  a  good  Mexican  to  work.     The  remaining  two  hundred 
and  four  were  either  Sundays  or  days  of  saints  of  the  first  class, 
to  labor  on  which  meant  to  invite  the  certain  displeasure  of  God, 
and  probably  induce  Him  to  strike  the  offender  dead  on  the  spot. 
Col.  Burns  described  to  me  an  incident  in  his  early  experience  in 
Mexico,  illustrating  how  completely  this  idea  had  taken  possess- 
ion of  the  public  mind.     He  and  Mr.  Waterhouse  had  elected  to 
work  on  one  of  the  most  notable  holy  days,  and  the  entire  popu- 
lation of  San  Dimas  turned  out  and  watched  patiently  till  sun- 
down, expecting  to  witness  the  edifying"  spectacle  of  their  annihi- 
lation by  an  outraged  diety.     The  days  of  the  minor  saints  were 
more  numerous  than  those  of  the  year,  and  of  course  it  was  more 


100  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

religious  not  to  work  on  those  either,  although  it  was  not  compul- 
sory. Therefore,  about  all  the  work  you  could  get  out  of  a  Mex- 
ican of  the  old  school  was  say  a  hundred  days  a  year  at  the  utmost. 
But  that  has  been  broken  down  long  ago.  All  that  remains  of  the 
prodigious  superstition  is  a  strict  observance  of  holy  week — the 
last  of  lent — and  a  three  days'  holiday  at  Christmas.  For  the  rest, 
you  can  find  all  the  labor  you  want,  and  a  very  good  quality 
of  it. 


The  race  that  time  doth  run  with  swift  but  silent  pace  is  draw- 
ing my  stay  in  Mexico  to  a  close.  Tomorrow,  I  leave  for  the  sea- 
board, homeward  bound,  taking  with  me  the  memory  of  six  pleas- 
ant weeks  spent  in  the  Mexican  mountains.  I  must  say  that  I 
am  giving  up  the  free  life  and  returning  to  what  we  call  civilization 
with  rather  a  heavy  heart.  I  am  not  much  in  love  with  some  of 
the  conventionalities  and  restraints  with  which  polite  society  is 
constantly  aiming  to  circumscribe  our  actions,  without  any  special 
good  reason  for  it.  I  have  an  honest  dislike  for  the  vanities,  shams, 
pretenses,  jealousies, heartburnings  and  eternal  regard  for  outward 
show  that  poison  life  and  make  good  fellowship  impossible.  I 
prefer  a  camp  fire  in  the  wilderness  to  quarters  in  a  palace,  a  hunt- 
ing suit  to  a  swallowtail,  a  mule  to  a  special  car  and  a  fellow  in  any 
old  kind  of  clothes  who  will  meet  me  frankly  to  one  of  the  tailor 
made  pinheads  who  infest  the  most  exclusive  circles.  Therefore, 
during  the  last  six  weeks,  I  have  been  entirely  in  my  element,  have 
said  and  done  exactly  what  I  pleased  and  cared  never  a  rap  what 
anyone  thought  of  it.  It  is  hard  to  break  of¥  from  such  a  delight- 
ful existence  all  at  once,  but  I  suppose  in  due  time  I  will  get  back 
in  the  old  groove  again. 

R.  C.  Kirk,  the  well  known  Klondiker,  blew  in  on  us  last  week, 
fresh  from  the  northland.     The  gentleman  went  to  Dawson  with 


A     GLBIPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


101 


the  first  rush  in  1897.  made  a  stake  and  had  the  good  sense  to  pull 
out  before  his  nose  and  ears  were  frozen  off.  His  book,  "Twelve 
Months  in  Klondike,"  published  by  a  London  firm,  is  by  far  the 
best  descriptive  work  on  the  Klondike  that  I  have  seen.     Happen- 


Leaving:  the  Mine,  Homeward  Bound. 

ing-  to  be  in  San  Francisco,  he  heard  that  I  was  in  Mexico  and  de- 
cided that  it  would  be  the  proper  thing  to  pay  me  a  social  call — 
a  trifling  trip  of  only  1500  miles.  He  worked  his  way  from  Ma- 
zatlan  to  the  California  Mine,  through  the  roughest  country  on 
earth,  without  knowing  a  single  word  of  Spanish,  which  I  con- 
sider something  of  a  feat.     He  is  full  of  enthusiasm  for  this  coun- 


102  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

try,  as  far  as  he  has  seen  it,  and  has  a  mind  to  settle  here  if  he  can 
find  a  suitable  base  of  operation,  which  ought  not  to  be  difficult 
in  a  young  man  of  his  energy  and  talents.  He  and  Superinten- 
dent Tompkins  will  take  the  long  ride  with  me  to  Mazatlan,  so  the 
journey  will  not  be  a  lonesome  one. 

California  Mine,  State  of  Durango,  Mexico,  April  23,  1901. 


mm 


ELEN'EXTH     LETTER 


T  the  interesting  hour  of  2  o'clock 
in  the  morninsf  of  yesterday  we 
arriyed  here,  after  a  man-kihing 
ride  of  four  days.  We  tried  a 
new  and  unfrequented  trail  to 
get  out  of  the  mountains,  with 
the  usual  results,  and  paid  the 
corresponding  penalty  in  fatigue 
and  oyerwork.  Not  only  that, 
wild  hogs  wrecked  our  grub  box 
the  first  night  out  and  we  had  to  liye  off  the  country  as  best  we 
nu'ght.  But  the  yirtue  of  hospitality  is  one  that  never  fails  in 
Mexico,  and  no  matter  how  tough  looking  you  may  be,  food  and 
shelter  are  neyer  refused.  Nay,  they  are  furnished  cheerfully,  and 
when  you  depart  the  host  bids  you  make  yourself  at  home  if  you 
pass  that  way  again.  It  isn't  exactly  Palace  Hotel  accommoda- 
tion that  you  receive,  but  they  give  you  the  best  they  have,  and 
what  can  man  do  more?  As  often  as  not,  any  form  of  compensa- 
tion is  declined.  And  it  never  seems  to  give  the  women  the 
slightest  trouble  to  do  a  lot  of  extra  work  for  strangers.  They  are 
a  hard  working,  good-natured  and  fair  looking  lot,  these  women 
of  Mexico.  In  my  younger  days,  I  should  have  had  more  to  say 
about  them.  There  are  real  beauties  among  them,  and  a  still 
larger  number  can  be  classed  as  "simpatica,"  a  Spanish  word  the 
nearest  English  equivalent  of  which  is  "attractive"  or  "pleasing." 
One  thing  about  them  that  struck  me  as  a  clear  reversal  of  female 


104 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


human  nature  was  the  entire  frankness  with  which  they  discussed 
certain  matters  concerning  themseh'es  which  a  gringo  dame 
would  rather  die  than  alkide  to.  For  instance,  when  you  find  an 
American  lady  who  is  approaching  the  shady  side  of  life  unat- 
tached, if  the  subject  of  marriage  is  brought  up  at  all.  she  will  tell 


Mazatlan,  Looking  Seaward. 

vou  all  about  the  brilliant  offers  she  has  received  and  the  swarm 
of  lovers  she  dismissed  broken-hearted,  because  she  never  met  a 
man  who  came  up  to  her  ideals.  You  may  know  to  the  contrary, 
but  that  is  the  story  you  will  get.  Now,  with  the  Spanish  lady  it 
is  otherwise.  I  was  talking  one  evening  with  a  senorita,  a  midget 
of  a  thing,  but  so  pretty  that  it  made  your  heart  ache  to  look  at 
her,  who  nevertheless  was  accumulating  years  in  single  blessed- 
ness in  a  manner  highly  distasteful.  She  was  an  orphan  and  sup- 
ported by  the  good  lady  with  whom  she  lived,  a  condition  of 
things  that  she  had  been  most  anxious  to  terminate  by  matrimony. 
She  spoke  about  her  efforts  in  that  direction  almost  pathetically. 
"I  have  done  my  very  best,  senor,"  she  said;  "I  have  set  my 
cap  for  every  likely  young  man  in  the  neighborhood  and  I  cer- 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  105. 

tainly  cannot  blame  myself  for  overlooking  any  opportunity.  But 
they  will  not  have  me.  In  the  meanwhile  I  have  seen  girls  who 
were  anything  but  'simpatica,'  whose  eyes  looked  in  different  di- 
rections and  had  mouths  like  the  gateway  of  a  church,  march  of¥ 
with  good  husbands  under  my  very  no.se.  I  cannot  imagine  what 
is  the  matter,  unless  it  be  that  the  men  will  not  take  me  because 
I  am  so  little."  "But,  amiga,"  I  suggested,  the  thoughtless  fel- 
lows ought  to  remember  that  the  most  valuable  things  in  the 
world  are  always  put  up  in  small  parcels."  "Granting  that  to  be 
true,  senor,"  she  replied,  "in  my  case  the  parcel  is  so  very  small 
that  it  is  overlooked  altogether."  Other  people  may  imagine  an 
American  woman  talking  that  way.     I  cannot. 

But  spinsters  are  not  numerous  in  Mexico  and  I  doubt  not  that 
my  little  friend  has  had  her  wish  gratified  long  ago.  The  fact  is, 
whether  a  woman  is  married  or  not  depends  upon  many  things 
beside  her  looks.  We  constantly  see  very  handsome  women  given 
the  overlook  and  pass  on,  lonesome  and  neglectd,  from  youth  to 
that  terrible  uncertain  age;  while  others  who  just  miss  being  posi- 
tively plain  never  seem  to  lack  admirers  and  are  able  to  pick  their 
choice.  The  explanation  is  not  so  difficult  as  it  seems.  In  the 
first  place,  men  see  women  through  eyes  entirely  their  own  and 
your  friend  may  be  able  to  discover  charms  in  a  certain  lady 
which  you  are  utterly  powerless  to  detect.  But  far  more  import- 
ant still  is  that  instinctive  faculty  of  ingratiating  themselves  with 
the  sterner  sex  that  some  women  possess  and  others  lack.  There 
is  no  more  edifying  spectacle  than  to  watch  a  really  capable,  alert 
and  resolute  female  at  her  work,  to  observe  how  dextrously  she 
finds  out  a  certain  gentleman's  weakness — just  where  he  is  vulner- 
able and  just  where  she  must  march  around  his  sensitive  points 
with  that  curious  art  of  hers.  She  knows  in  a  moment  exactly 
how  far  she  can  go  with  flattery,  without  being  suspected,  exactly 
how  mucli  regard  may  be  manifested,  without  the  appearance  of 
setting  her  cap.  And  when  that  gentleman  goes  home,  sits  in 
his  easy  chair  and  thinks  how  wonderfully  that  woman  under- 
stands him.  how  she  appreciates  all  his  good  ((ualities,  how  she  re- 
spects and  admires  him — and  how  much  he  deserves  it — he  is  pre- 


lOG 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 


cioiis  near  the  matrimonial  landing  net  and  will  be  gathered  in 
before  he  knows  it. 

Mexican  ladies  seem  to  have  this  gift  developed  in  a  high  de- 
gree. They  are  good  fellows,  like  men  and  tell  them  so  with 
their  eyes,  if  not  otherwise.  Their  talents  carry  them  rather  early 
in  life  to  the  hymeneal  altar,  and  as  above  stated,  spinsters  are 
few  and  far  between. 


I'nloading'  Lighters,  Mazatlan. 

We  passed  a  quiet  Sunday  in  Mazatlan  yesterday.  That  is  to 
■say,  we  took  in  the  sights,  which  included  a  brief  inspection  of  a 
rooster  tournament  and  attendance  at    the    regular    weekly  bull 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO 


107 


iight.  These  are  national  pastimes  and  the  latter  partakes  of  the 
nature  of  a  great  social  function.  Personally,  I  have  no  taste  for 
either  and  dislike  both  as  cordially  as  I  detest  pugilism  at  home. 
But  when  one  is  abroad,  it  is  necessary  to  have  experiences  to  get 
a  fair  idea  of  national  character — and  I  had  them.  I  came  away 
with  none  of  my  previous  impressions  changed,  but  rather  deep- 
ened and  the  cock-pit  and  the  bull-ring    shall    see  me  no  more. 


Street  Scene,  Mazatlan. 


This  prejudice  on  the  part  of  Americans  is  looked  upon  by  Mex- 
icans as  one  of  the  strangest  aberrations  of  the  gringo  mind. 
They  themselves  have  very  strong  convictions  on  the  subject  of 


108  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

prize  fighting.  They  regard  it  as  a  brutal  and  degrading  spectacle 
which  should  be  frowned  down  by  all  good  people;  and  they  will 
argue  to  any  length  on  the  viciousness  of  the  game  of  football^ 
which  risks  the  lives  of  promising  young  men,  simply  to  afford 
amusement  to  the  multitude.  But  when  it  comes  to  a  chicken 
fight  or  a  bull  fight,  that  is  quite  another  afifair.  The  simple  mis- 
sion of  these  animals,  according  to  their  logic,  is  to  grow  up,  be 
killed  and  eaten,  which  is  not  very  far  from  the  truth,  after  all. 
That  being  so,  the  manner  of  their  taking  off  is  a  mere  matter  of 
detail  and  if  they  can  contribute  to  the  entertainment  of  the  pub- 
lic in  their  last  moments  by  displays  of  courage  and  steadfast- 
ness, what  harm  is  done?  Moreover,  if  the  animal  had  a  choice,^ 
would  it  not  prefer  to  perish  in  combat  gloriously,  rather  than 
basely  submit  its  neck  to  the  ax  or  its  throat  to  the  butcher's 
knife  ?    I  merely  give  the  argument  without  pasing  on  its  merits. 

The  most  interesting  part  of  a  bull  fight  are  the  side  hghts  lead- 
ing up  to  it.  There  were  eight  thousand  people  in  attendance  and 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  crowd  knew  no  bounds.  The  entrance  of 
popular  favorites  called  forth  an  uproar.  Orators  attempted  to 
speak  and  were  either  howled  down  or  applauded.  Then  the 
four  queens  of  the  fiesta  swept  in  and  took  their  seats  in  a  special 
box,  whereat  the  multitude  arose  and  yelled  like  demons.  After 
that,  the  fighters  and  bull  number  one,  were  turned  loose  and  the 
entertainment  began.  But  just  about  as  it  was  getting  to  the  real 
interesting  part,  my  chicken  heart  got  the  best  of  me,  and  I  found 
business  elsewhere.  So  the  task  of  describing  a  bull  fight  at  Ma- 
zatlan  must  be  left  to  other  hands. 

And  with  these  words,  my  story  comes  to  a  close.  I  may  lin- 
ger here  a  few  days  and  perhaps  return  by  some  zig-zag  land  ■ 
route,  the  better  to  see  the  country,  but  I  will  be  in  California  to 
talk  for  myself  before  another  letter  could  arrive.  In  the  forego- 
ing I  have  purposely  avoided  the  more  ambitious  themes  and  have 
only  endeavored  to  show  you,  in  my  own  way,  a  few  live  people 
and  some  real  things.  If  this  has  been  accomplished,  then  I  am 
repaid  for  the  expenditure  of  considerable  time  and  thought;  for 
these  letters  have  not  slipped  from  the  writer's    pen  carelessly. 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  109 

but,  on  the  contrary,  represent  many  an  hour's  hard  work,  just 
how  many  it  would  be  embarrassing  to  admit.  But  the  labor  has 
not  been  burdensome  for  the  subject  is  one  near  to  my  heart  and 
later  on  I  may  write  of  it  more  at  length. 


HOME     AGAIN 


Hints  for  Home  Use. 


Probably  the  reader  who  has  traveled  with  me  thus  far  has 
heard  as  much  of  Mexico  as  he  cares  to,  but  there  are  just  one 
or  two  observations  that  I  wish  to  make  that  ought  to  be  of  no 
little  interest  to  the  American  people. 

The  United  States  is  today  an  expanding  nation.  I  do  not 
mean  in  the  sense  of  reaching  out  for  territorial  acquisitions  for 
that  has  probably  run  its  course.  Our  boundaries  may  be  en- 
larged hereafter,  but  if  so,  it  will  be  by  the  voluntary  act  of  those 
who  desire  to  enter  our  national  family.  Our  people  have  no  de- 
sire to  increase  their  limits  by  force  of  arms  and  the  acquisitions 
incident  to  the  late  war  would  never  have  been  tolerated  by  public 
opinion  had  not  peculiar  and  unforseen  conditions  arisen  that  to  a 
certain  extent  forced  the  issue  on  the  nation.  But  ours  is  an  ex- 
panding" country  in  this  sense,  that  it  has  entirely  outgrown  the 
mere  business  of  looking  after  itself.  It  needs  outlets  for  its 
superabundant  products,  for  the  industry  and  energies  of  its 
people,  and  the  demand  for  wider  opportunities  in  this  direction 
is  sure  to  increase  as  the  years  roll  on.  No  chance  should  be 
neglected  now  to  establish  permanent  commercial  relations 
wherever  a  fair  field  presents  itself. 

In  letters  published  during  the  last  two  months,  the  writer  has 
endeavored  to  give  an  idea  of  the  remarkable  progress  Mexico 
had  made  in  recent  years.  Not  only  that,  but  the  possibilities 
ahead  are  almost  limitless.  No  one  can  go  through  the  country 
with  one  eye  half  open,  without  being  impressed  with  the  many 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  111 

sided  resources  bestowed  upon  it  by  prodigal  nature,  most  of 
which  are  still  latent,  waiting-  for  the  hand  of  modern  enterprise 
to  quicken  them  into  life.  That  it  has  a  great  future  before  it,  and 
a  special  interest  to  our  adventurous  youths,  there  can  be  no  man- 
ner of  doubt.  For  in  our  own  country,  the  best  places  at  the  table 
are  preempted  by  close  corporations.  Whole  industrial  provinces, 
such  as  transportation,  the  manufacture  of  iron,  sugar,  mineral, 
oil  and  other  products,  too  numerous  to  mention,  are  held  under 
the  domination  of  single  minds.  The  average  yoimg  man  here, 
with  the  usual  equipment  of  brains  and  ambition,  has  a  sorry 
chance  to  break  into  this  charmed  circle.  Whereas,  in  Mexico 
the  field  is  still  open  to  all  comers,  just  as  it  was  among  us  half  a 
century  ago  and  industry  and  thrift  are  sure  of  a  liberal  reward. 
There  is  an  opening  there  for  thousands  of  our  aspiring  youths, 
who  could  not  only  better  themselves  but  also  serve  as  advance 
agents  in  establishing  trade  relations  with  the  mother  country  of 
immense  value,  as  events  unfold  themselves. 

Of  all  the  leading  industrial  nations,  we  have  the  great  advant- 
age of  position  in  dealing  with  Mexico.  Our  borders  touch  along 
fifteen  hundred  miles.  The  railway  systems  of  the  two  countries 
are  connected  and  the  principal  Mexican  ports  of  entry  on  the 
Gulf  and  on  the  Pacific  are  almost  at  our  doors.  In  the  feverish 
race  of  international  competition,  one  w'ould  suppose  that  these 
conditions  would  easily  place  us  way  in  the  lead  commercially  with 
our  southern  neighbors.  But  such  is  far  from  the  fact.  Ameri- 
cans cut  a  respectable  figure  in  the  mining  industry  in  Mexico, 
and  are  well  represented  in  the  professions.  They  are  also  doing 
more  or  less  in  certain  branches  of  agriculture  and  some  of  our 
capitalists  have  been  extensive  railroad  builders.  But  in  the  im- 
portant domain  of  commerce,  they  are  hardly  a  factor  at  all.  In 
that.  Europe  walks  al!  over  us.  Tlie  single  city  of  Hamburg,  I 
am  very  certain  has  a  far  larger  volume  of  trade  with  Mexico  than 
the  whole  United  States  put  together.'  The  city  of  Mazatlan,  for 
instance,  is  a  most  important  distributing  point  for  a  great  extent 
of  country.  Its  imports  last  year,  so  the  American  Consul  there 
informed  nic.  exceeded  $80,000,000  Mexican  money.  Here  was 
a  i)lum  w  ell  worth  fighting  for.     Yet  less  than  one  per  cent,  of  this 


112  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

total  came  from  the  United  States.  Almost  every  nation  of  Eu- 
rope is  represented  there  by  one  or  more  large  commercial  firms. 
^^^e  have  none,  either  big  or  small.  And  what  is  true  of  Mazatlan 
is  true  of  the  other  considerable  cities  of  Mexico.  They  swarm 
with  German,  English,  French,  Spanish  and  Italian  business 
bouses,  but  an  American  concern  of  the  kind  is  so  rare  that  it  is 
regarded  as  a  curiosity.  It  forms  a  sad  commentary  on  our  un- 
readiness to  recognize  facts  of  common  knowledge.  Years  ago, 
we  were  taught  to  look  down  on  Mexico,  because  its  government 
was  unstable  and  its  people  unprogressive.  We  have  failed  to 
realize,  as  Europe  has,  that  these  conditions  have  changed  entire- 
ly, and  that  it  is  now  a  country  with  which  commercial  relations 
should  be  eagerly  sought.  The  opportunities  once  to  be  had  for 
the  asking  are  rapidly  slipping  from  our  grasp,  perhaps  forever. 
In  my  judgment,  what  has  kept  us  in  the  background  in  Mex- 
ico more  than  any  one  thing  is  the  fact  that  knowledge  of  the 
Spanish  language  is  a  very  rare  accomplishment  among  us.  Prob- 
ably fifty  can  speak  French  or  German  to  one  familar  with  the 
Castilian  tongue.  The  independent  American  will  not  go  where 
he  cannot  make  himself  understood,  for  his  good  common  sense 
tells  him  how  insane  it  would  be  to  embark  in  business  among  a 
people  of  whose  speech  he  knows  nothing.  Therefore,  he  leaves 
Mexico  out  of  his  calculations,  even  if  he  has  some  glimmering 
idea  that  it  offers  unusual  inducements  ■  to  enterprise.  But  the 
European  man  of  affairs  has  no  such  handicap.  Those  who  are 
trained  for  commercial  life  are  taught  the  languages  of  countries 
with  which  they  will  probably  have  dealings,  just  as  much  a  matter 
of  course  as  instruction  is  given  in  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic. 
Not  only  that,  but  they  also  make  a  special  preparatory  study  of 
trade  conditions  in  foreign  lands  and  trade  usuages.  This  is  spec- 
ially true  of  German  commercial  men,  who  are  given  a  finished 
education  that  puts  all  other  nationalities  to  the  blush.  No  Ger- 
man who  expects  to  embark  in  mercantile  pursuits  is  supposed 
to  have  any  business  training  at  all  who  cannot  speak  at  least  three 
or  four  languages  besides  his  own,  and  who  has  not  familiarized 
himself  thoroughly  with  the  commercial  customs  of  leading  na- 
tions.    The  general  mercantile  education  abroad,  in  particular, 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  113 

always  gives  special  attention  to  the  Spanish  tongue.  In  my 
oi)inion.  this  is  the  whole  secret  of  the  remarkahle  success  of  Ger- 
mans and  other  Europeans  in  Si)anish  America  and  it  also  tells 
the  tale  of  American  failure.  The  average  young  man  of  the  old 
world  who  follows  trade  is  made  of  no  better  material  than  the 
American.  On  the  contrary,  our  youngsters  are  generally  more 
resourceful,  self-reliant  and  pushing.  But  the  European  lands  in 
Mexico  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  language  and  trade  condi- 
tions of  tlie  countrw  while  our  own  unhappy  countryman  wanders 
arcnmd  like  a  cat  in  a  strange  garret  and  is  not  in  the  race  for  a 
minute.  If  anyone  wants  to  have  the  national  conceit  taken  out 
of  him  in  good  shape,  he  only  needs  to  see  for  himself  how  efifete 
Europe  is  chasing  us  ofif  the  earth  in  Spanish  speaking  America. 

But  the  remedy  is  in  our  own  hands.  We  need  only  to  imitate 
the  European  system  of  education  to  place  our  people  on  an  even 
footing  and  then  the  game  should  be  easilv  ours.  Just  a  little  travel 
has  satisfied  the  writer  how  fatally  defective  the  early  training  is 
that  takes  no  account  of  modern  languages  and  until  our  system 
is  changed  in  this  respect  the  American  will  remain  a  back  number 
in  countries  where  for  every  reason  he  ought  to  be  on  top.  We 
teach  a  vast  amount  in  our  public  schools  that  is  valuable  only  for 
mental  discipline  and  is  forgotten  promptly  as  soon  as  other  mat- 
ters engage  the  scholar's  thoughts.  Why  cannot  we  include 
something  distinctly  practical,  that  is  bound  to  be  usefuf  as  long 
as  the  boy  or  girl  nves?  There  is  no  reason  in  the  world  why 
every  pupil  who  goes  through  the  public  school  course  should  not 
master  two  languages  and  we  respectfully  submit  that  the  mental 
drill  in  acquiring  a  foreign  tongue  is  quite  as  valuable  as  that 
which  comes  from  digging  into  various  abstractions.  If  one  of 
these  languages  should  be  Spanish,  it  would  work  a  transforma- 
tion in  our  relations  not  only  with  Mexico,  but  with  the  whole 
cDntinent  south  of  us  to  Cape  Horn.  It  would  give  an  opening 
Uj  thou.sands  and  thousands  of  enterprisingyoung  men  who  would 
serve  as  our  representatives  in  clearing  the  way  for  the  expansion 
that  this  country  imperatively  demands.  Unless  something  of 
this  sort  happens,  the  United  States  will  lose  the  biggest  prize  for 
which  commercial  nations  are  contending:  for  there  can  be  no 


114  A    GLIMPSE    OF    OLD    MEXICO 

manner  of  d()u1)t  that  the  greatest  developments  of  the  next  half 
century  will  be  in  Spanish  speaking  America.  It  includes  an  area 
far  greater  than  all  Europe  and  richer  in  natural  resources.  The 
world's  progress  will  not  permit  it  to  lie  comparatively  idle  longer 
and  when  the  boom  once  starts  in  earnest,  it  will  roll  along  like 
a  tidal  wave.  Whether  the  United  States  shares  in  it  or  not.  de- 
pends largely  on  whether  we  have  the  good  sense  to  fit  our  young 
men  to  enter  the  field  with  some  prospect  of  success;  and  the 
indispensible  condition  is  that  they  be  given  a  thorough  instruc- 
tion in  the  Spanish  language,  during  the  course  of  study  which 
our  public  school  system  provides. 

And  when  we  attempt  to  do  business  with  our  Spanish  Amer- 
ican neighbors,  we  ought  at  least  to  make  an  efifort  to  meet  their 
customs  half  way.  instead  of  attempting  to  cram  our  methods 
down  their  throats.  European  commercial  men  are  constantly 
endeavoring  to  accommodate  the  trade  in  every  particular  while 
with  us  it  is  simply  a  take-it-or-leave-it  proposition.  A  single  in- 
stance will  illustrate  this  as  well  as  a  thousand.  In  Mexico,  much 
of  the  trai^c  is  carried  on  by.  the  tedious  process  of  mule  trans- 
portation and  for  that  reason  the  returns  of  business  are  slow. 
On  that  account,  a  long  credit  system  prevails,  the  usual  time  al- 
lowed a  solvent  firm  being  not  less  than  six  months.  European 
bouses  have  no  objection  to  this,  for  the  prices  are  all  right  and 
the  security  ample.  In  the  city  of  Mazatlan,  there  has  been  but 
one  commercial  failure  in  twenty-five  years  and  that  was  the  case 
of  a  French  firm  which  was  overwhelmed  by  the  collapse  of  the 
parent  concern  in  Paris.  Yet  because  our  rule  is  a  credit  of  sixty 
or  ninety  days  at  the  utmost,  our  merchants,  especially  those  in 
Ssn  Francisco,  have  turned  the  cold  shoulder  to  no  end  of  the 
finest  kind  of  business  when  it  was  knocking  at  our  very  doors.  If 
we  persist  in  this  absurd  conservatism,  we  have  only  ourselves  to 
blame  if  we  continue  to  stand  at  the  tail  of  the  procession,  when 
we  ought  to  be  at  its  head. 

The  writer  only  wishes  that  he  could  make  this  as  clear  to  oth- 
ers as  it  is  to  himself.  The  lesson  that  anyone  must  read  who 
travels  through  Mexico  intelligently  is  so  very  plain  that  there  is 
no  mistaking  it.  We  are  simply  going  to  be  frozen  out  of  Spanish 


A     GLIMPSE     OF     OLD     MEXICO  115 

America  altog-etlier  commercially  by  our  European  brethren,  un- 
less we  adopt  the  methods  that  have  secured  them  supremacy. 
The  proposition  is  so  distinct  and  clear  cut  that  it  seems  as  if  the 
force  of  it  ought  to  be  realized  by  those  to  whom  it  is  directly  ad- 
dressed. If  not,  a  later  generation  of  Americans  may  have  ample 
cause  to  lament  the  short-sightedness  of  their  sires. 


THE  END. 


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